By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: Jennifer Jones
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Juniata College women's soccer team fell to No. 15 Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh Wednesday night, by a final score of 4-1. The Eagles got an early second half score from senior Paula Pryor (Westbrookville, N.Y./Burke Catholic) for her team leading eighth goal of the year.
"Carnegie Mellon is very deserving of their national ranking," said head coach Scott McKenzie. "After spotting them three goals in the first half we were able to figure out where we were going wrong and for the most part we were able to solve where we were going wrong. We learned a lot about ourselves and our system and what we need to do to have success in the future."
Juniata found itself down early, as the Tartans were able to get two goals in the first fifteen minutes. But the Eagles responded and were able to shut down the Carnegie Mellon attack, limiting the Tartans to just five shots in the remaining 30 minutes of the half.
"At halftime [assistant coach] Kaleigh [Herring] and I talked about, do we give up on our system or do we go with what we know works for us, and we decided to stick with our system," said McKenzie. "[The girls] listened to their teammates give advice and to the coaching staff and our advice and we got what we needed to get out of this game. We know now that we can respond to potency and that's very encouraging."
Down 3-0 at the half, Juniata wasted no time in the second period scoring a goal just one minute and thirty-two seconds in. Senior Rose Lucidi (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) found classmate Pryor in space behind the Tartans back line. The Carnegie Mellon goalkeeper charged out at Pryor, but she nailed a long range shot over the oncoming keeper and in the net to put the Eagles on the board.
"The whole game shows guts," said McKenzie. "The goal came from our defense working and getting the ball, giving it to Rose in the midfield, Rose getting the ball to Paula and Paula doing what she does best, which is score goals. It was a full team effort and that shows resiliency."
The loss moves the Eagles to 7-1 this year. Juniata will look to bounce back this weekend when they host the University of Scranton in the first half of a soccer double header on Winton Hill Field. The Matchup with the defending Landmark Conference champions will be the first match of league play for the Eagles. Kick off is set for 1 p.m.
"It's very encouraging to see how we were able to respond to some significant adversity," said McKenzie. "We came into this game having given up only four goals in seven games and got punched in the face three times right out of the gate. But the girls got back up and said ok lets do this – lets keep going. That shows a lot of guts."
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