Photos Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Thamoda Haputhanthri
Susquehanna Women’s Soccer earned a late 2-1 comeback win against Waynesburg University Saturday night at Sassafras Field to help keep the River Hawks undefeated early on in 2026.
The match opened with a disastrous start for Susquehanna (2-0) as a defensive mistake allowed Amanda Pepe to capitalize and open the scoring for Waynesburg (1-3).
The game would unravel shortly after, with both teams bombing up and down the field, allowing for 12 shots, four for Waynesburg and eight for Susquehanna.
The River Hawks looked unable to shake off their frustration with the early dagger, unable to really move the ball up the field and create and take dangerous opportunities for the rest of the first half.
However, this was a tale of two halves, as the River Hawks would come out feet ablaze and would dominate the second half.
Susquehanna would continue their attacking onslaught in the second half, recording nine shots until a wonderfully placed ball from Junior Olivia Baczor found the net, thanks to an assist from Kate Adelman.
After Baczor broke the River Hawks’s goalscoring deadlock in the 74th minute, both teams went at it, setting the game up for a grandstand finish.
Fans got to see the exciting finish unfold as Ava Billmeyer would find Amelia Kopp wide open off the left-hand side and would tuck it away with four minutes to go. “I was really happy to put that away and win the game for our team,” said Kopp.
Susquehanna was far from the clinical machine they would prefer to be on the night, with 20 attempts overall and only eight of them being on target, allowing for a busy night for goalkeeper Lex Greenlief.
They outshot Waynesburg 20 shots to eight, however contrary to the box score, Waynesburg had brilliant opportunities of their own, with July Mohrbacher hitting the post with six minutes to go which could have well won them the game.
However, with this resilient and persistent group of girls, there was almost a feeling of when not if the goals were coming and come it did. “It’s a real character win… when parents ask what do you look for and recruit, we always say character and that’s a character win.” Coach Hoover sad
The River Hawks will look to continue their brilliant form against Penn State Harrisburg on Wednesday, September 9th at Sassafras Fields at 5:00 p.m.