After a frustrating day of missed opportunities on Saturday, the Eastern University Women's Soccer team bounced back with a convincing 9-1 win over Meredith College in the second game of the Orthopedic Associates of Virginia Classic tournament at Virginia Wesleyan College. Junior forward Nicole Grindle scored three times to spark the Eagles (1-1).
The first fifteen minutes of play looked rugged for the Eagles as they appeared to be getting their legs under them. Grindle got the Eagles going when she ran onto a Jill DiRenzo pass and pushed the ball into the lower left corner of the goal. Moments later the Eagles doubled their lead when Ashley Hackman received a ball on the right flank and served a ball into the danger zone. DiRenzo fought for the ball and flicked it in the air to Chrissy West. West out-jumped her defender and nodded home her first of the year.
West wasted no time in increasing the Eastern lead when she took a pass from Hackman on the left flank and ripped a 25 yard shot that found the back of the net on the near post. With the helper on that goal Hackman moved into a tie at the top of the Eastern all-time career assist list. Hackman moved to the top of the list alone minutes later when she slotted a ball through to DiRenzo who pushed the ball neatly into the lower left corner of the goal.
Meredith scored in the waning minutes of the half to cut the halftime deficit to 4-1. Coach Mouw said of his team's work in the first half, "Once we settled in and found a rhythm in our game, we were able to create chances. I am encouraged that we were able to take advantage of them. Nicole's goal was huge for us."
Coming out in the second half, the Eagles continued to win balls and move into the attacking third as they exploded for four goals in the opening twelve minutes of the second frame. Grindle scored her second of the match as she got on the end of a well-weighted through ball from Ashley Hackman and curled a right-footed shot inside the right post.
Kara Neef set up the sixth goal with a strong overlapping run up the right side. Neef pushed the ball wide of the final defender and was fouled at the top of the box. Corie Brant whipped a shot in on the restart and Grinldle hammered home the rebound with 41 minutes to play in the half. DiRenzo scored her second of the match with a one-time finish of a Steffie Sauder corner kick. Kristin Watson ran onto a perfectly weighted flighted ball from Lauren Roe. Watson cracked her shot off the inside of the upright for her first collegiate goal.
"We moved the ball very well in the opening minutes of the second half and were able to take advantage of a couple restarts," coach Mouw said, "I was pleased with our efficiency. We finished at a very high rate. We will need to continue to show improvement, but we made big steps from game one to game two."
Neef, who finished the game up front, slotted home a Kate Weber pass for her first goal of the year. First year goalkeeper Amber Cummins picked up her first collegiate win before being relieved by Amanda Smith in the 68th minute. The Eagles return to action at Susquehanna University on Saturday.
