HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's soccer team handed Moravian College its first conference loss of the season, 3-2, Saturday afternoon on a stunning sudden death overtime goal from junior Rose Lucidi (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley).
Juniata has played three of its last four matches on the road. The win pulled the Eagles (7-3-1, 1-1 Landmark) out of a four-match skid and gave them their first league win of the year.
"We were on the road for a lot of games and we had some adversity and we just needed to get back to the friendly confines of Winton Hill," said Juniata Head Coach Scott McKenzie. "And you see what can happen when a group is motivated."
Moravian (6-5-1, 2-1 Landmark) scored the first goal of the match in the 38th minute. Kirsten Schall chipped the ball over freshman keeper Kristin Twardowski (Emmaus, Pa./Southern Lehigh) and took it in unassisted.
Down 1-0 at the break, Juniata's offense came out on fire in the second half.
"They're the first place team in our conference right now and they expected to come in here and face a team that was quitting and that's not us," added McKenzie.
Consistently attacking the box paid off for junior Alicia Snyder (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) in the 55th minute. The midfielder made a quick move in the box and forced a Moravian defender to foul, giving her the penalty kick. She nailed it for her second goal of the season, ninth of her career, to put Juniata on the board.
Junior Paula Pryor (Westbrookville, N.Y./Burke Catholic) kept the pressure on. She caught a great through pass from freshman Sarah Rhodes (Bloomfield, N.Y./Bloomfield Central) in stride and put in the back of the net just two minutes after Snyder's goal to give the Eagles the 2-1 lead.
Moravian responded with the equalizer in the 71st minute to send the contest to sudden death overtime. The Greyhounds came out aggressive in the extra minutes taking five shots, all on-goal, in the first 4:08 of overtime. Twardowski stepped up to the challenge, saving all five in spectacular fashion. She finished with a career-high 13 saves.
"Kristin saved our bacon today," said McKenzie. "She's a very, very good young goalkeeper who grew up a lot today. She's got a journey still to go to become an elite college goalkeeper, but she certainly took a giant step today."
With a little over a minute and a half left on the clock, Pryor broke away down the left side and found Lucidi on a low hard cross pass. Lucidi beat her defender to the ball and punched in the game winner only a few yards out from goal. It was the first game winner of her career.
Juniata will remain home for its next match. The Eagles face-off against Pitt.-Greensburg on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 4 p.m.
"Tuesday is going to be a great game," started McKenzie. "Pitt.-Greensburg is playing well and we hope to go ahead and keep our momentum going forward."
Though in the past three years, Juniata has outscored the Bobcats 10-0, Pitt.-Greensburg boasts a 5-3-3 record this season and is riding a two-game win streak.
