WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 19, 2018) – The King's College women's soccer team picked up a big 2-1 victory over Centenary University on Wednesday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium in Wilkes-Barre.
The Monarchs (3-3) ended their two-match losing streak with an all-around great performance against the Cyclones (1-5).
Danielle Putnam nearly gave King's a very early lead when she got a head on a corner kick by
Breanna Jacinto in the second minute. Cyclone keeper Rachel Colt was able to scoop up the ball for the save. King's would get a second chance to score on a corner kick a couple minutes later but a shot from
Janelle Scillia sailed wide left.
The Monarchs got on the board late in the seventh minute when
Allison Andrew knocked in her first goal of the year. After a Centenary hand ball 33 yards out,
Stephanie Corea sent a free kick in towards the Cyclone wall towards a Monarch player. The ball was passed back to Corea who sent in a chip over the defense into the box where Andrew collected the pass and knocked it into the lower right.
King's pushed to increase their lead earning back-to-back corner kicks in the 14th minute.
Anna Lacalamita got a head on the second attempt and sent it towards the upper left, but Colt was able to keep the shot out of goal.
The Cyclones evened the score late in the 17th minute when Amanda LeBelt took advantage of a mishandled ball by the Monarch keeper in front of net. King's responded right away earning another corner kick in the 20th minute. The Cyclones were able to defend the corner and knock the ball out of the box to
Kara Keim. Keim calmly stepped up on the left side about 24 yards out and blasted a shot that hit just under the crossbar and into the net for her first collegiate goal.
The Monarchs kept pushing and earned another corner not even a minute later.
Sophia Sacknievich received the corner at the top of the box and unleashed a shot towards goal that a CU defender was able to get in front of and block. Centenary had two opportunities to even the score in the 26th minute but a shot by Stephanie Williams went wide right and Amanda Benoit's attempt was blocked. Williams would get off two more attempts in the half, but
Tara Bender was able to save her first attempt while her second attempt went wide right. Bender made another big save right before the half ended to keep the Monarchs on top going into halftime.
King's dominated possession in the second half passing the ball around waiting for an open opportunity.
Emily Harrington got a good look on goal early in the 51st minute with a shot inside the box. However, Colt was able to keep the ball out of the back of the net.
The Cyclones put together a strong push with 15 minutes remaining with three shots, including two by Williams on goal. The Monarch defense blocked the first shot before Bender made easy work saving the next two. KC looked to increase the lead early in the 86th minute when a shot by Harrington sailed wide right of the goal. Sacknievich picked up the rebound near the goal line and sent a shot in towards goal that was saved. Sacknievich had another attempt a couple minutes later that sailed just high of the crossbar.
Allison Andrew scored her ninth career goal for the Monarchs while
Kara Keim had her first career game-winner.
Stephanie Corea recorded her second assist of the season and third of her career.
Tara Bender equaled her career high of four saves in goal to pick up the victory. The Monarchs held a 10-9 shot advantage and an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks.
King's will be back in action on Saturday in perhaps their toughest test of the year so far when they travel down to Annville to face Lebanon Valley College at 1 p.m. on Herbert Field. The Dutchmen are ranked eighth in this week's Mid-Atlantic Regionally Rankings by United Soccer Coaches.
--MONARCHS--
