HUNTINGDON, PA- The women's soccer team broke out in a big way as it scored three first half goals and dominated visiting Drew 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in the Landmark Conference opener for both teams at Winton Hill Field. The Eagles improve to 4-5-1 while the Rangers fall to 3-5.
The Eagles dominated the Rangers in overall shots, 16-2, and held their opponent to just one on goal. JC had a 5-2 edge in corner kicks.
"It was a total team effort," said head coach Scott McKenzie afterwards. "We had eight players with shots in the game. Shayna King (Easton, PA/Easton Area), Cheyenne Brown (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock), and Lauren Liacouras (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) all played a great game. One of the things I told then after the game was from endline to endline, this was a team defensive gem."
It all started in the 24th minute when King hit a long shot from just inside the box past Drew goalie Sara Nash and into the net. Just over two minutes later, Brown dished to King for her second goal of the day. 52 seconds after that. Katie Szczur (Johnstown, PA/Richland) was granted a penalty kick which she converted for the 3-0 lead.
In the second half, the Eagles nearly had their fourth goal of the game. Carly Altenberg (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) took a shot that deflected off of the crossbar and out of play.
Goalkeeper Kerry Leonard (Cockeysville, MD/Maryvale Prep) faced just one shot and tallied her fourth shutout of the season and second straight. Nash had one save in the first half. She was relieved by Andee Higgins in the second half and she came away with two stops.
On his team's defensive effort, McKenzie said, "They defended everywhere on the field with pace. That put pressure on Drew that they were not prepared which gave us the advantage. We now know what we are capable of, we've seen glimpses of it and not a full game of it but we finally saw a full game of it today, McKenzie noted. "
Juniata returns to Winton Hill Field on Tuesday for a non-conference match with Westminster (PA) on Tuesday. Game time will be at 4 p.m.
