Soccer drops weekday tilt to Gannon

The Edinboro women’s soccer team lost a hard-fought battle at home against Gannon on Sept. 5, falling 2-1. 

The game started off aggressively with a yellow card being issued to Gannon’s Molly Whaley during the 19th minute. If the yellow was an early attempt to contain the game by the referees, it fell short as the game continued to be a physical and aggressive battle the entire time. 

Both keepers played a solid game as the stats for saves do not accurately show the work they put in. Both goaltenders routinely came out of their box to collect stray balls and stop breakaways.

Danielle Chatten scored the first goal off a pass from around 20 yards out. “It was a nice layout by [Cameron Bujnoski]. It couldn’t have been more perfect and I kind of just shot it,” Chatten said of her goal.

Gannon quickly bounced back, firing a shot from around 15 yards, past Voelker on a breakaway less than 20 seconds after Edinboro’s goal. Going into the half, the score was tied 1-1.

The physicality continued into the second with forward Brittnie Spithaler often being involved as she attempted to make offensive plays. 

“It was something new for me because college is obviously going to be more physical, but it is a good thing to deal with because it’ll make me stronger for the whole season and years to come,” Spithaler said of the game.

Another Fighting Scot that was involved in the action was Sidney Dobbins, who faced a lot of action and pressure in the midfield. 

“They had one good player — well all of them are good players — but [Emily Cekella] was really big on the headers, so our coach put Jenna Derbis on her and then me and her won a lot of those 50-50 balls,” Dobbins said the next day. “In the first half, we were really high intensity on them. I think we just worked really well together last night.”

The intensity of the game caused both defenses to get rid of the ball quick, which resulted in many out-of-bounds plays. 

“When it’s a highly physical, high-contact game and there’s a lot on the line, you tend to freak out, and when you freak out you tend to make mistakes,” Head Soccer Coach Gary Kagiavas said of the many out-of-bounds balls.

Gannon capitalized on a mental slip by Edinboro that left a Golden Knight uncovered, leading to Gannon’s second goal of the season. ‘Boro fought hard to make up the second goal, but Gannon closed ranks with their midfielders dropping back more than they had previously. 

The Fighting Scots fought until the last second, and they were in the middle of another offensive attempt when the clock ran out. 

Chatten said the Fighting Scots showed improvement from their loss against Shippensburg University on Sept. 1.

“Compared to Shippensburg, I think we stepped up our game a lot. I think we dominated most of the game, [and] we just got unlucky with their one finish,” she said.

Kagiavas also said they played a good game and that the team was well-prepared for Gannon, but that they need to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

“We know Gannon plays a lot of high pressure, so we were prepared for that. We did a lot winning the 50-50 balls. I thought we prepared well,” Kagiavas said. “I think the kids put in a lot of effort to try to win the game. I think we had a good game today, I just think we need to score. You’ve got two, three chances to try to score. You can’t miss that.”

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

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