ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. — The Catholic women's soccer team looked to bounce back off a loss in a mid-week non-conference matchup against St. Mary's on Wednesday night. A late two goal spurt for the Seahawks in the first half gave them the advantage going into halftime, and they were able to hold off the Cardinals enough in the second half to hang on for a 2-1 win.
The Cardinals outshot the Seahawks 10-3 in the first half, putting eight of those shots on goal, but were unable to find the back of the net.
Caroline Aponte put four shots on goal in the half, while
Isabel Doherty added two, but Kyleigh Bland was able to save all eight shots on goal in the half.
The first goal of the game came for St. Mary's just over 31 minutes into the contest when Keira O'Neail set up an opportunity for Megan Rusk who found the back of the net to give the Seahawks a 1-0 lead.
Just 90 seconds later, the Seahawks scored once again to double the lead heading into the halftime break. This time it was Ella Raines for St. Mary's on an assist from Maddison Spradlin to quickly put them ahead 2-0 over Catholic.
Catholic cut the deficit down to one after a goal from Aponte 16 minutes into the second half got the Cardinals on the board. She received a pass from
Peyton Coron and guided a shot into the back of the net for her first goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game.
Catholic took 18 shots in total in the second half, eight of which were on target, but were not able to score once again to even the match up and fell 2-1. The Cardinals are now 2-4-1 on the season.
Aponte's goal was her first career collegiate goal and made her the sixth different goal scorer for the Cardinals so far this season. She is now tied with
Teighan Boyle for the most points on the team with four. Coron's assist was her first of the season and seventh in her career.
Ava Rieger and
Lauren Creamer split time in goal for Catholic in the match. Aponte, Boyle,
Alex Berish and
Payton Hardy all played the full 90 minutes for the Cardinals in the game.
The Cardinals continue their four-game road stretch on Saturday, September 20 when they take on Shenandoah. Kickoff is set for 3 pm at Glo Fiber Field.
