Saint Francis Tops Women’s Soccer in Rematch, 3-0

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FORT WAYNE, Ind. — After a long trip to Fort Wayne, Ind. and a pair of lengthy weather delays, the women’s soccer team (0-4-0) eventually got into a bit of a rhythm against the host Cougars of the University of Saint Francis (3-1-1) Wednesday (Sept. 10) at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium. The Mustangs – aiming for a result like last year’s 1-0 victory over Saint Francis – lost to the Cougars by a 3-0 final after a hard-fought 90 minutes of action and a total of 63 minutes of weather delays.

After allowing a free-kick goal early in the game, the Mustangs were seeking the equalizing-tally before an unlucky call awarded the Cougars a penalty kick, which was converted, to put the hosts up 2-0 after 22 minutes of play. The call meant the Mustangs would face a penalty kick in all four games to begin the 2014 campaign – a record for any stretch of four contests in program history.

The 2-0 score would hold through the half as the Mustangs gathered at the break to draw up a plan for the latter stanza. Despite playing hard, the Mustangs allowed Summer Holtkamp to dance into the box for a goal in the 49th minute to end the scoring in the three-goal defeat.

Feeling healthier by the day, the Mustangs put together a solid game plan against a confident Cougars squad on a rain-soaked weekday evening in Indiana. Despite getting outshot on target 13-3, the Mustangs played arguably their best game of the season with the offense applying pressure multiple times throughout the match.

Newcomer Bianca Barron (West Jordan, Utah/Barton CC), coming off of a 51-goal career at Kansas’ Barton Community College, worked through early season injuries to finally start and play a full game at forward for first-year head coach Mario Scicluna and the Mustangs. Barton nearly tallied her first goal in a Mustang uniform when her header off of a corner found its way on target before being thwarted by the Cougars keeper.

Fellow newcomer Olimpia Bonilla (Salt Lake City, Utah/Barton CC) came up from the back to account for one of the team’s three shots on goal, while all-time leading scorer Cheyenne York (Taylor, Mich./Truman) rounded out the Mustang attack with the other shot on target.

Freshman midfielder Hailey Varney (Flushing, Mich./Auguste-Pattberg-Schule Germany) was knocked out of the game late, but not before she helped the Mustangs create chances against the Cougars on the road. Kamry Miller (New Boston, Mich./UM-Dearborn), one of five seniors on the women’s soccer team, recorded a shot, while sophomore defender Sara Ruch (Oxford, Mich./Oxford) was credited with a shot as well in the road setback.

Stephanie Pilarski (Warren, Mich./Macomb CC) – playing in her first full game as a keeper at the collegiate level – took the loss to move to 0-1 on the season despite continuing to improve between the pipes.

The Mustangs will take another week of off game action before hitting the pitch again in Indiana at Purdue Calumet Wednesday (Sept. 17) at 7 p.m. The game will feature a live stats feed from Purdue Calumet at portal.stretchinternet.com/puc/.

WOMEN’S SOCCER CONTACT: Tim Johnston | 313-927-1419 | tjohnston@marygrove.edu | @tjohnston56
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