WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three different Cardinals found the net as the Catholic University women's soccer team flew past Drew on Saturday, 4-1.
Jordan Siok ensured Catholic got out to a hot start. From the opening whistle, the senior was a live-wire, causing problems for Drew from her left wing position.
The breakthrough came in the 16th minute when Siok was opportunistic inside the penalty area. After a foul near midfield, Sam Cesario played a dangerous ball toward the Ranger goal that was allowed to bounce at the top of the area. When no Drew defenders took command of the situation, Siok ran in to convert a point-blank opportunity past a helpless goalkeeper.
It took just five minutes more for the Cardinals to double their lead through a vintage Siok goal. The shifty forward skipped past a defender with ease on the left side of the penalty area before lashing a stunning strike past Sarah Crowley at her near post.
Drew pulled one back quickly, however, courtesy of Molly Kuhn. Rebecca Racine absorbed a strong challenge but was able to release a quality through ball, finding Kuhn who beat an onrushing Ava Rieger to the ball as the referee allowed play to continue. Kuhn's goal came just 53 seconds after she entered the match as a substitute.
The Rangers nearly leveled things up just before halftime when Maeve O'Murcha clattered a shot off of Rieger's right-hand post in the 44th minute. The sophomore goalkeeper did will to rush out and close down the angle, allowing Catholic to maintain a slender advantage entering halftime.
Catholic was eager to extend its lead after the interval. After being caught offside three times in a five-minute span, the Cardinal attack found its timing as Siok turned provider in the 61st minute. The senior received the ball from Peyton Coron and then returned it to the sophomore, who then produced a brilliant left-footed finish to the far post from a difficult angle to double Catholic's lead.
Drew came very close to halving the deficit in the 77th minute. After Cesario was cautioned for a foul near the edge of the Catholic penalty area, Drew worked a training ground routine that nearly yielded a goal.
Racine rolled the ball forward for Alexa Krause who unleashed a howitzer of a strike that thundered off of Rieger's left-hand post. The ball came back off the woodward and struck the helpless goalkeeper on the back, then rolling agonizingly across the goalline but no onrushing Ranger could arrive to tap it home.
The, late on, AJ Hudock found the net following a scramble in front of Crowley. The goalkeeper made a great save to deny Katarina Bauer before Hoduck smashed home at the far post to net her second goal of the season. Her goal came just 82 seconds after entering the match as a substitute.
Siok's brace and Coron's tally mean that both forwards now sit at six goals on the season. Siok is converting at a high rate in front of goal, scoring on more than 26 percent of her total shots and converting nearly half of her shots on target.
This marks the second time in Siok's Catholic career that she has notched three goal contributions in the same match, coming two years and one day after she did it against Marymount (Va.) in a 5-1 victory in 2021.
Prior to this matchup, Drew sat atop the Landmark Conference standings at 3-0. With the victory, Casey Sommers' side move to 2-1-1 in conference play, Catholic's best start to a conference slate since the 2019 season when the Cardinals began 4-1-1.
Next up for Catholic will be the second of a three-game homestand. The Blue Jays of Elizabethtown will come to Carlini Field to do battle on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.
