WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University women's soccer team dropped a non-conference match to Gettysburg on Wednesday night in a tight affair.
The first half was a cagey one that only saw the teams combined to put three shots on target.
It took 28 minutes before either goalkeeper was forced into a save when substitute Abigail Fitzgibbons fired a shot toward Ava Rieger's net but it was a comfortable stop for the sophomore.
Gettysburg was able to muster a couple of half-chances midway through the period but it was Catholic that came the closest late on in the first half.
In the 41st minute, brilliant work from Payton Hardy allowed Catholic to create the best chance of the period. The holding midfielder won the ball back high up the field and played a positive pass to Peyton Coron. The sophomore got to the byline and cut a beautiful low ball back to the top of the penalty area where on-rushing Isabella DeAvila fired a left-footed strike wide of Alex Jurow's goal.
It was more of the same early in the second half until the 59th minute when Catholic were undone via a throw-in.
The ball came back to Dani Bloching immediately after she had taken a throw-in, and she was able to loft a clever ball to send Carli Cameron in down the left flank. Cameron then squared a perfect low ball to Zoe Want who made no mistake, finishing past Rieger for the game's only goal.
Catholic turned up the pressure directly from the restart, earning a corner kick just a minute later. Lauren Cerda delivered a brilliant ball right on top of the goalkeeper, and Ava Gregorio, who was stationed in front of Jurow, connected on a turn-around volley that was destined to tuck just inside the far post. However, Jayne McGarth got her body in the way and kept it out with a vital goal-line clearance.
The Cardinals continued to push, firing four shots toward the Bullet goal in between the 75th and 80th minutes. Sara Placide rattled the frame of the goal, striking the crossbar on a beautiful one-time effort in the 78th minute.
Catholic now hits the road for a rematch of last year's Landmark Conference Semifinal. The Cardinals will travel north to do battle with Scranton on Saturday, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m.
