Sometimes a team is just overmatched. This was the case Wednesday when the Women's Soccer team hosted Youngstown State, coming off a 3-1 loss at Colgate on Saturday, Oct. 4. AU got a much-needed victory, jumping out to an early lead and winning, 4-0.
Sophomore Marcela Ricupero started the scoring at 21:57 when she tapped in a rebound from senior Anabel Jimenez. The shot came off a diving deflection by Youngstown goalie Mia Railing. Railing played well while facing 26 shots in the first half alone.
Just as the half came to a close super-sub freshman, Jana Lee, added to the Eagles lead when she dodged Railing and bounced the ball into the back of the net, giving AU a commanding lead, 2-0.
Lee continued her strong play into the second half, almost adding a third goal in the 55th minute of the game. Sophomore Simone Konig used her speed and trickery to send a ball down the right sideline that was crossed and found Lee's head. She placed it toward the upper left corner and the ball glanced off the crossbar and out of danger.
AU continued to attack and in the 56th minute Jimenez sealed the game's fate as she went on a full run down the left sideline, cut the ball back and placed it in the lower left corner of the goal. The crafty senior midfielder wasn't done. Thirty minutes later, with four minutes remaining in the game, Jimenez received a pass from Lee and tapped it home to finish the game.
Youngstown had a last-minute chance to get on the scoreboard on a breakaway run, but substitute freshman goalie Alison Doyle and freshman forward Jenna Abbondi combined to stop the shot.
Doyle combined for the shutout with senior Lauren Wohl, who had three saves. The Eagles improved to 4-5-1 on the season.
The Lady Eagles host Lafayette in a Patriot League battle on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. As an injury update, junior Sarah Boltz underwent surgery last week after sustaining a leg injury suffered against Loyola.
"She had surgery last Tuesday she had two breaks in the ankle with two or three screws put in along with a metal plate," Head Coach Michael Brady said. "Rehab is going well and everything is on schedule"
