Scranton Lady Lions Victorious in Season Debut
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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1 | 1 | 2 |
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3 | 4 | 7 |
Team Stats
Penn State Hazleton
Penn State Scranton
| Game Statistics | Penn State Hazleton | Penn State Scranton |
|---|---|---|
| Shots (on goal) | 12 (9) | 33 (24) |
| Saves | 16 | 7 |
| Fouls | 4 | 3 |
| Corner Kicks | 5 | 8 |
| Offsides | 0 | 0 |
By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics
DUNMORE, Pa. - On a beautiful picturesque day in the electric city, the hometown Penn State Scranton Lady Lions soccer squad won in dominant fashion by a score of 7-2 over local rival Penn State Hazleton in their season opener. Scranton outscored their opponent 3-1 in the first half of play, and never let off the gas in the second frame by outpacing Hazleton 4-1 in the final 45-minutes of the match to capture their impressive five goal triumph when the final buzzer sounded.
After the road warriors from Hazleton got off to a lightning quick start when Springsky Chee lit the lamp first, assisted by Jasmine Bender, to get on the scoreboard just 1:29 into the contest, Scranton seized the momentum right back when just 30-seconds later freshman Ciara Dennis fired one in, with an assist by fellow freshman Jocelyn Velasquez, to knot things up at one apiece. Then Scranton took their first lead of the game at the 31:06 mark when stand-out freshman Katie McFarland tallied an unassisted goal to give her club a 2-1 advantage. Just four minutes later, at 35:01, McFarland scored again unassisted to increase her team's lead to 3-1, a nice cushion they would enjoy heading into the half-time break in the action.
Hazleton would show some fight to begin the second half of play, as Bender snuck one between the pipes for an unassisted goal to cut the deficit to just a lone goal at 3-2 at the 54:59 mark of the match. From there it would be all Scranton, as the Lady Lions would snatch the momentum back once again and never relinquish it, as they would not give up another goal the rest of the game and scored four straight tallies to end the battle in grand fashion. McFarland notched the hat trick with her third goal of the game at the 58:03 mark to increase her squad's advantage to 4-2. Then just 22-seconds later McFarland scored again unassisted to up Scranton's lead to 5-2. At the 67:04 mark McFarland would score her awe-inspiring fifth and final tally of the matinee to give the Lady Lions a 6-2 advantage. To wrap up the scoring barrage, Scranton's captain, junior forward Kaitlyn Azarsky scored unassisted at 85:52 to give the Lions the 7-2 generous cushion they would enjoy when the game clock hit all zeroes.
Scranton's freshman goalkeeper Kaleighna Snodgrass earned the victory going the distance in net and stopping a stellar seven out of the nine shots on goal she faced on the day. Meanwhile, Hazleton had sophomore Esmeralda Telles in goal for the entire contest, as she was peppered with a flurry of Scranton shots throughout the match, putting up a quality 16 saves out of the whopping 23 shots on goal she faced.
Now new Scranton head coach Steve Milutinovic and his 1-0 squad will look to continue their winning ways when they next go on the road to face off against non-conference foe Word of Life this Saturday afternoon, with kick-off slated on the pitch for a 3pm start time. Meanwhile, the 0-1 Penn State Hazleton soccer team will look to bounce right back and earn their first victory of the young season when they next go on the road for a crucial conference showdown with Penn State Schuylkill this Tuesday afternoon at 4pm.
