Soccer drops midweek match-up to Griffins

Edinboro’s women’s soccer team had their three-game win streak broken by Seton Hill when the Griffins handed them a 2-0 loss on Oct. 17. The game had cold weather, with snow flurries occasionally breaking though, and had a noticeable wind.

‘Boro may have fallen behind by two goals in the first, but they tried to get good shots off when they could. They faced a Seton Hill defense that would routinely use 2-3 players to jostle a Fighting Scot off the ball. 

“We put all three forwards in the middle, so now they brought all four (defenders) in. It was always a challenge,” Head Soccer Coach Gary Kagiavas said of the struggles the offense encountered. “Now, the plan was to flick it on, so every time we got the ball in the middle, we flicked it on. We had a chance because we’re getting it behind...but then we started trapping. So when we started trapping they had four players within five yards, so that’s why they had so many people around the ball.” 

About 17 minutes into the game, Danielle Chatten got an attempt when she chased a ball for a header that the goalkeeper collected over her head. Two minutes later, Manns got an attempt when a cross from a corner kick ended up near the goal, but the goalkeeper once again was on it, running to swipe the ball from Mann’s feet. 

Five minutes after Manns’ attempt, Brittnie Spithaler got a shot off from outside the box that went a bit high. Spithaler’s attempt was the last on goal before Seton Hill broke through the defense. Italia Biondi broke away from her defender, as her teammate passed to her, to get a shot past Voelker.

SHU scored a few minutes later when Alyssa Neast weaved through two Fighting Scots and took a shot on Voelker’s near side. The first half ended 2-0 in the Griffins’ favor. 

The Fighting Scots defense held strong throughout the game, with only two noticeable mistakes that Seton Hill managed to capitalize on. 

“I think they just got in behind us. It was unlucky,” defender Cameron Bujnoski said of the goals scored against ‘Boro. “I know the one had a one-touch, great shot and there’s nothing we can do about that, and the other I think they just got behind us. Nothing you can really do.”

Bujnoski continued, “At practice we worked a lot on switching players and stuff because we knew they were going to be really dynamic up top, so we were prepared, but it was definitely a lot and we did a good job communicating.”

‘Boro had some scoring chances in the second half, outshooting the Griffins 10-8, but none of them landed in the net as the Griffins goalkeeper made every save, seemingly with ease. 

Voelker made a diving save with less than 2 minutes on the clock to keep the deficit at 2-0. 

Both keepers had nine saves in the match.  

“We played really, really well,” Kagiavas said. “We had some great opportunities, [but] the keeper is unbelievable. She pulled off two incredible saves. You know, it just seems to be the keepers we’ve played against this year have done unbelievable things. 

“I’m not disappointed with today’s result. I think we played as hard as we could. We did everything that we were supposed to and it just didn’t work out,” he concluded.

Erica Burkholder can be reached at sports.spectator@gmail.com.

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