Box Score
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Bloomsburg scored two first half goals and held on down the stretch to hand the Slippery Rock University women's soccer team a 2-1 defeat Friday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action at Sports Stadium.
Both teams came into Friday's game ranked in a tie for sixth in the latest Atlantic Region rankings, released Tuesday by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
The Huskies (3-0-1, 2-0-0 PSAC) scored goals in the 18th and 25th minutes and held off a late rally from The Rock (3-2-0, 1-2-0 PSAC) that including three shots on goal in the final 10 minutes.
Slippery Rock finished the game with advantages of 13-10 in total shots and 9-6 in shots on goal, including a 9-5 edge in shots and a 7-1 advantage in shots on goa in the second half. lBoth teams were awarded three corner kicks.
Tara Huber opened the scoring on the Bloomsburg's first shot of the game when she found the topside of the net off an assist from Ali McCrossin in the 18th minute.
The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 25th minute when Jamie Vaniver scored into the upper left corner of the net with an unassisted strike.
The Rock cut the deficit in half when
Shelby Ward found the left corner of the net for her first goal of the season in the 41st minute. Her unassisted marker sent the game to halftime with Bloomsburg up 2-1.
Both goalkeepers were superb in the second half with neither team finding a way to score. SRU peppered Husky keeper Frances Nicoletti with three shots on goal in the final 10 minutes, including a shot from
Danielle Turner in the 90th minute, but Nicoletti saved all three attempts to seal the win.
Turner finished the game with seven total shots, including four on target, to lead SRU. Ward added three shots on goal, while
Ashley Paganie and
Stephanie Buckenheimer each had one shot on net.
Dana O'Neill took the loss in goal, allowing two goals and recording four saves. Nicoletti earned the win after recording eight saves and allowing only Ward's tally.
The Rock will get very little rest before its next challenge, a 1 p.m. conference match at East Stroudsburg tomorrow. The back-to-back PSAC games are a result of the conference's new format for 2010, which eliminated the traditional divisional alignment of East and West divisions.
