Top 10 Exciting Games of 2014-15 - #10 Women's Soccer Overtime Win at Juniata
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College is going to take a look back at its 2014-15 athletic campaign with a pair of top 10 lists. The first list starting today will be the top 10 exciting games from the past year with a look at our No. 10 highlight – the women’s soccer squad rallying for a 2-1 overtime win at Juniata College.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College is going to take a look back at its 2014-15 athletic campaign with a pair of top 10 lists. The first list starting today will be the top 10 exciting games from the past year with a look at our No. 10 highlight – the women's soccer squad rallying for a 2-1 overtime win at Juniata College.
The Greyhounds, who were 7-10-1 overall last season, played a total of four overtime matches in 2014 with a 2-1-1 mark in those contests. The match in Huntingdon on Saturday, October 11 was the first of back-to-back overtime contests for Moravian as the squad played to a 0-0, double-overtime draw with Susquehanna University the following Saturday.
Head Coach Jeff Ykoruk looked back at the Juniata match that pushed the Hounds to 2-1 in Landmark Conference action at the time. "It was a character win for our program after a long week of training, games and dealing with the academic stress of it being mid-term week."
The Greyhounds and the Eagles would play a scoreless 45 minutes in the opening half with Moravian holding a 6-2 edge in shots and a 2-0 advantage in corner kicks. The Blue & Grey had the first chance to score as senior forward Kirsten Schall put a shot on goal in the fifth minute that was saved while Juniata's best chance of the half would come in the 15th minute when a shot hit the post.
"We sold out in the first half and generated a lot of opportunities but had nothing to show for it," stated Ykoruk.
Moravian would put two more shots on the next in the opening half, one by senior defender Kaylan Bruzzone in the 24th minute and another by junior midfielder Taylor Blake a minute later.
The Hounds opened the second half on the attack again as sophomore forward Melissa Walko drilled a shot on net in the 54th minute nut it would be the Eagles getting onto the scoreboard first in the 71st minute when Juniata found a loose ball after a corner kick.
Eight minutes later, Moravian answered back and knotted the score at 1-1 when Walko got in past the goalie and found an open net for her second goal of the season. The Greyhounds would try to end the game in regulation with junior midfielder/forward Brittany Nicoline putting a shot on the keeper just two minutes after Walkos' goal, and Schall adding another shot on goal in the 86th minute.
"We fell behind in the second half and responded with a goal of our own to force overtime," commented Ykoruk. "Our players had nothing left to offer but managed to rally around the cause."
Juniata had the first shot in overtime with a shot on goal in the 94th minute as Moravian junior keeper Jacqueline Zalis made her second save of the match on the short shot from the right side.
Roughly a minute later, Schall tracked down a loose ball on the offensive side of midfield. After settling the ball, Schall would take four touches through the Juniata defense as she moved towards the left sideline. She fired a shot back from the top of the 18-yard box with her left foot back across to the right side of the goal, putting the shot inside the post and past a diving goalie for the win.
"When I got the ball close to midfield, I knew I had to do whatever I could to get the ball in our attack," commented Schall. "After dribbling for a bit I took a look up and realized how close I was to the goal and took a chance. When taking the shot, I knew all I needed to do was hit it on frame with enough power. We needed a goal for the conference win and I knew if my shot didn't go in my teammates would be crashing the net for a rebound. It all happened so fast... after I took the shot the next thing I realized was the team rushing the field. It was such a great feeling seeing our team come together to get the job done and pick up that conference win."
"Kirsten took over the game and out muscled a Juniata player off the ball and then beat three defenders and hit a laser into the right side of the goal from 20 yards out to give us the conference win," Ykoruk said.
For Schall, it was her 13th goal of the season and her fifth game-winning tally in a season that saw her score 16 times and be named the Landmark Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in her career. Her 16 goals tied the single season school record, and she finished third in school history with 35 career goals and 88 career points.
You can check out the original game day story at http://moraviansports.com/sports/wsoc/2014-15/releases/201410113nh8t0.
You can watch video of the match from Juinata at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/juniata/portal.htm?eventId=176140&streamType=video.
