CENTER VALLEY, Pa.- With a convincing 3-0 Freedom-opening victory at DeSales (5-5-1, 0-1 Freedom), Eastern University Women's Soccer
picked up a third straight shutout win.
The Eagles (5-4-1, 1-0
Freedom) controlled play from the outset, but suspect finishing left the
game-knotted at 0-0 until the 39th minute. Senior defender Cara
Dembrosky played a ball over the DeSales back line and into the path of
fellow senior Kelsey Doutrich. Doutrich was able to connect on a shot
despite being pulled to the ground in the process. With the shut-out
win, the tally held up as the 15th game-winning goal of Doutrich's
career.
"The referee told me on the way back to midfield," Doutrich related, "that he was going to call the penalty kick on the play."
"We
missed far too many chances in the opening half," Eastern Head Coach
Dan Mouw stated, "we had five or six golden opportunities to take an
early lead and build on it, but we did not take the kind of individual
responsibility that we need to take to execute in those moments. That
was the focus of our halftime discussion."
The Eastern players
took responsibility to start the second half. Just over a minute into
the period Amy Thomas received a ball on the left flank from Stephanie
Le. The senior midfielder earned the edge and attacked the goal. A
little cut-back move set up a right-footed shot for her second goal of
the season.
Less than two minutes later, Doutrich picked up a pass
in the middle of the field. After drawing the defense to her, Doutrich
slipped a pass in behind the Bulldog back row for Victoria Graham to run
onto. Graham, who had hit a similar chance of the crossbar in the first
half, left no doubt as she made a quick move around the DeSales keeper
and tucked away her first collegiate goal.
The 3-0 lead proved to
be plenty for the Eastern back row. Alysia Goodman and Elayna Simpson
each made one save to share the shutout win.
The Eagles host
Susquehanna in a non-league game on Wednesday and will return to league
action next Saturday with a home match against Manhattanville.
Saturday's contest is girl's soccer day at Eastern. There will be several activities for girls ages 4-10 surrounding the game. Click here for more details. Girls can register for the day at http://bit.ly/soccerdaysignup
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