By Alexandra Parado & Alex Reich
Sports Editor & Staff Writer
The women’s soccer team improved their record to 2-0 as they defeated Pennsylvania State University-Berks on Sept. 5. in the season’s home opener.
In spite of the Lions tremendously outshooting Penn State Berks, 12-2, neither team was able to score in the first half.
The Lions’ defense was strong—when Penn State Berks attempted to score, junior goalkeeper Nicole DiPasquale guarded the net to keep it locked at zero.
The Lions came determined to score in the second half. At the 66th minute, freshman forward Randi Smith and junior midfielder Taylor Nolan worked together to get a point on the scoreboard.
Smith sent in a corner kick, which allowed Nolan to strike in a header, making the score 1-0. In the same fashion, junior midfielder Haley Bodden delivered a header from a corner kick sent in by sophomore defender Ally Weaver. Corner kicks allowed the Lions to advance the score to 2-0.
Even in the second half, the team never gave up on the defensive side of the game. The back line, which consisted of junior defender Jen McGrogan, junior defender Ally DeRiggi and sophomore midfielder Faith Eichenour, only surrendered three shots while DiPasquale did not allow any shots to get past her.
“Our game plan was to go out there and play our game,” Eichenour said. “We wanted to press hard and keep control of the ball. Offensively, we created a lot of opportunities, getting 12 corners and 26 shots. We had a couple shots bounce off the post and the other goalie made a bunch of good saves. Fortunately, we were still able to put two goals in the back of the net to win the game. Going into the next game, we are just going to focus on the task at hand.”
The Lions will play their next game on Wednesday, Sept. 12 against Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. They will continue to travel to meet Rutgers University-Newark in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
