By Michael Henken Staff writer
The Susquehanna women’s soccer team lost 1-0 to Shenandoah in a closely contested game at home on Sept. 17.
The two teams did not score for the majority of the game until Shenandoah freshman forward Emily Yargin scored a goal off an assist from senior defender Alysha McCleaf in the 86th minute to give the Hornets the lead.
Despite the low-scoring output from both teams, they were both able to get shots on goal. In the first half, Susquehanna had four shots while Shenandoah had five.
The River Hawks did not go down without a fight. Junior midfielder Grayclynn Juckes led the team in shots with three, while seven other players recorded Susquehanna’s remaining seven shots.
Senior goalie Jordyn Slocum saved five of the six shots on goal she faced for the River Hawks. Slocum also played all 90 minutes.
On the other side, Shenandoah senior goalie Erin Septer led the team with four saves on the evening.
Despite the loss, Juckes felt as if the team took a step forward against Shenandoah.
“We battled hard and left everything on the table against Shenandoah, definitely a huge step forward for our team.” she said.
Head Coach Nick Hoover shared the same sentiment.
“Losing is always tough but we played very well,” he said. “We had a game plan, stuck to it, and even though the result didn’t go our way we had several opportunities to beat a very good team.”
As far as what needs to be done in order to overcome the setback, Juckes said that the team simply needs to remain focused on their goal, which is to ultimately clinch a spot in the Landmark Conference playoffs this fall.
“I would say to bounce back from the close loss we need to just keep our heads up and focus on our goal of conference playoffs,” she said.
“For the rest of the season I would say we are excited for up and coming conference games. Overall, we just need to stay healthy and stick to coach Hoover’s plan,” she added.
That plan, according to Hoover, is to consistently improve as a team.
“Our team has gotten better every day since we arrived on Aug. 18 for preseason, and that is my expectation for the rest of this season,” he said. “To steadily improve each and every day. If we continue to do that, the results will take care of themselves.”
With the victory, Shenandoah improved to 5-2 on the season. Susquehanna fell to 4-2 after the loss
Susquehanna played against Wilkes on Sept. 20. The River Hawks came out on top 1-0 thanks to a game-winning goal in overtime by sophomore forward Emily Sullivan just 1:47 into the extra period.
The goal was Sullivan’s second of the season and also the second game-winner that she has scored this year. The first was in the Sept. 14 game against King’s, a game the River Hawks also won by a 1-0 final score.
Junior Jennifer Thorsheim made the start in goal for Susquehanna and picked up the shutout victory, grabbing six saves. Meanwhile, senior Alyssa Young was in goal for Wilkes; she had four saves in the game.
Both teams were quite active on the night, as they fired a combined 20 shots, with the River Hawks taking nine and Wilkes taking 11 shots. Susquehanna held the advantage in corner kicks at 6-3.
Susquehanna also recorded 10 fouls during the game.
The game was a back and fourth stalemate until the last 10 minutes of regulation, when both teams created a number of scoring opportunities.
Wilkes almost went ahead in the 85th minute on a shot by sophomore forward Aislinn Speranza, but Thorsheim came up with a clutch save to keep the game scoreless.
Just two minutes later, Susquehana almost put the game away for good on a header in the 87th minute by freshman midfielder Julia Hutsko, but it was saved by Young.
Susquehanna had one more chance to score in regulation in the 90th minute on a corner kick by sophomoer defender Emily Lefkowitz, but the attempt failed and the game went into overtime.
Sullivan put away the game-winner just 1:47 into the contest to give the River Hawks the win.
With the victory, the Susquehanna women’s soccer team improves to 5-2 on the season.
Wilkes fell to 1-5 on the year with the loss.
They will return home to open up conference play against Catholic on Sept. 24, before finishing up the month by traveling to non-conference foe Hood on Sept. 27.
