By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's soccer team remains flawless after pulling out the 3-2 double overtime victory Friday evening against Waynesburg University on Winton Hill Field. Juniata (3-0) handed the Yellow Jackets their second loss of the season as they dropped to 1-2 overall.
Senior Paula Pryor (Westbrookville, N.Y./Burke Catholic) headed in the game winner on a cross from fellow senior Alicia Snyder (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) in the 100th minute. The goal was Pryor's third. She currently leads the team with eight total points.
"Waynesburg certainly was a step forward in the amount of pressure we were put under and the amount of skill we had to manage," said head coach Scott McKenzie. "We certainly bent in this match, but we did not break."
The Eagles started off the match with its high-octane offense, but Waynesburg held strong with its back line and answered in kind.
"We had to make adjustments during the flow of play," said McKenzie "We do a lot of discussion on the sidelines and try and communicate that to the field, but it's really the players that figure out what is going on in the game and how to work with it. The girls were able to take something they hadn't seen yet – the Waynesburg pressure – and figure out what to do with it. As a coach, you're always very proud of that."
Sophomore Emily Green (Marietta, Pa./Donegal) put Juniata on the board first at the 31:52 mark. She headed a cross from Pryor into the left side of the net giving Juniata the 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
"We definitely saw the competitor in Emily Green today," stated McKenzie. "We decided to see what some other girls would do with a start and to do that someone had to come off. The competitor in Emily really said, 'hey, next time, not me,' and that's the kind of response you want from athletes – that fighter."
Juniata spent the rest of the half trying to string together an attack, but coming up empty. Waynesburg threatened to tie the game with just seven minutes left in the first half. While Waynesburg couldn't get the equalizer before the clock ran out, it took just three minutes into the second period for the Yellow Jackets to even the game at 1.
Waynesburg took the lead in the 72nd minute, 2-1, on an unassisted goal, and Juniata's offense responded quickly. Green punched a rebound off a Snyder shot to the back of the net for the equalizer in the 75th minute. The Eagles got a number of good looks and took five more shots before the end of regulation, but could not end it.
"We took 22 shots today and what's concerning is that only seven were on frame," stated McKenzie. "We need to be a little bit better at making sure that when we do put something off of our foot it's going towards the goal. We need to improve upon that."
Juniata was unable to capitalize on two corner kick opportunities in the final minutes of the first overtime, but made up for it in the second. It only took them only 56 seconds to score. Snyder's cross from the left found Pryor, in the box, and she redirected it just enough around the goalie for the win.
"People who score goals, find ways to score goals," said McKenzie. "They can be pretty, they can be ugly, but they all count. I feel happy for Paula because I know Paula puts the weight of the world on her shoulders and with her missing some opportunities early I guess karma helped her out there. I was glad she was able to close it out for us."
Juniata stays home for a matchup with Hood College on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m.
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