By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: Jennifer Jones
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's soccer team extended its winning streak to six games this evening with a 2-0 win over Saint Vincent College (SVC). The Eagles improve to 6-0 thanks in part to two goals off the foot of sophomore Michaela Lacek (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern).
"A piece of the game we greatly improved on today was our shooting," said head coach Scott McKenzie. "We took 19 shots and 13 were on goal. That is the kind of improvement we've been working on in practice. We've worked with individual players on looking up and finding where the goalkeeper is not. It's a simple way of thinking about things a little differently. Today we were able to do that."
The Bearcats were looking to hand the Eagles their first loss of the season, as they did last year. SVC started the game with a lot of energy and pinned Juniata down in its own half of the field for the first five minutes. But the Eagles got their legs under them and in the 13th minute Lacek found the back of the net. Senior Alicia Snyder (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) collected a corner kick and found Lacek in the middle. Her shot snuck just inside the far post for her fourth goal of the season.
In the final three minutes of the half, SVC earned a free kick in range of the Juniata goal. But the Eagles were able to squash the threat and take the 1-0 lead into the half. Overall the Juniata defense only allowed eight shots and freshman Erin Mueller (Bedford, Pa./Bedford) made two saves in her third shutout of the season. Junior Katie Szczur (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) anchored the Juniata defense in the middle today. The SVC defense was led by Szczur's Richland High School teammate, Elly Colvin.
"Katie has always played outside and we moved her into the middle today," added McKenzie. "It was best friend versus best friend in the same position across the field. You could tell the way Katie warmed up today that the game meant something different to her. She played outstanding. So did Elly. I'm glad we had the opportunity to get the game for Katie today because I think she's a happy kid right now. And that's what we do."
Juniata started the second half at full speed. With the opening kickoff senior Paula Pryor (Westbrookville, N.Y./Burke Catholic) had a golden scoring opportunity. SVC goalkeeper Cassie Overly made an outstanding save on Pryor's shot that looked like it would find the upper corner of the netting. The Eagles forced Overly to make 11 saves on the day with their 19 shots. Just a few minutes later, Lacek nailed home a centering cross from Pryor into the far corner for her second tally of the match.
"Michaela took seven shots, five were on goal, and two went in," said McKenzie. "Alicia took two shots, both were on goal, and she had an assist. That is how you win games over good teams. [Saint Vincent] is a team that played in its conference championship last year. We have similar aspirations. To play people who are in their championship game and to be successful lets these kids buy into the idea of, why not us? That's really the mantra that these girls are trying to put on and it feels pretty good to them. Why not us? We're doing what we have to do to win the games."
Juniata goes on a two game road trip next. The Eagles return home Saturday, Sept. 28th, at 1 p.m. in the opening game Landmark Conference play against the University Scranton.
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