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Women’s soccer clinches first Landmark win with 1-0 upset over Drew

Women’s soccer clinches first Landmark win with 1-0 upset over Drew

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Sophomore Jenna Rodrigue (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) found the sure foot of sophomore Paula Pryor (Westbrookville, N.Y./Burke Catholic) to clinch the game winning goal with just three seconds left in the first half, as the Juniata College battled to a 1-0 victory over Drew University, Saturday afternoon at Winton Hill Field.

The Eagles held Drew (7-9-0, 2-3-0) to only nine shots, when the Rangers were averaging 15.1 shots per game prior to the match. The Juniata (5-8-2, 1-3-1 Landmark) defense also kept the Rangers, ranked no. 1 in the Landmark Conference for goals per game with 2.07 as of Friday, to only four shots on goal with none of them finding their way into the back of the net.   

Junior keeper Gabriella Ricciardi (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) played all 90 minutes for Juniata and turned down four Ranger shots, while also keeping the Juniata net safe through six Drew corner kicks. Today's triumph marked Ricciardi's second shutout of the season.

"It all begins with defense and our defense is playing very well, which is giving us the ability to have more chances on the attacking part of the field. We played up-tempo and played with confidence," relished Head Coach Scott McKenzie. 

The win marked Juniata's first 2011 Landmark win, as well as the first time the Eagles have defeated the Rangers in Landmark play since the conference's creation in 2007, when the Eagles fought to a 3-2 win.

Juniata goes on the road Tuesday, Oct. 25, for a 3:00 p.m. matchup with Pitt-Bradford.

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