Soccer team stays undefeated out east, tops Millersville

Edinboro soccer capped off their road trip with a 2-1 win against Millersville. The team had a couple young players step up and score two crucial second half goals on Saturday. 

Head coach Gary Kagiavas said they had to be careful how they played because of the heat and due to the fact they have such a small squad. He said they had a game plan and they executed it very well. 

The Fighting Scots improved to 4-0-0 overall for the first time since 2012 and 3-0-0 in the conference. They were ranked 11th nationally in the latest NSCAA Division II poll. That’s the highest ranking they’ve ever received.

There were no goals scored in the first half, which is the first time this season Edinboro went into the half without a goal. They were able to get five shots on net, but all of them were stopped by the goaltender, Samantha Wolfe. Millersville’s lone shot on net in the first half hit off the post.

In the 47th minute, the Marauders’ Alexandra Powell scored to give Millersville a 1-0 lead. This was the first time Edinboro had trailed an opponent this season.

Kagiavas said the goal was caused by a turnover just outside the “big box” and goaltender Sarah Baskey was not ready for the ball to come that quickly, so she was caught out of position.

“Once again, we controlled the tempo and their players pretty well. We knew it was a matter of time until we scored, but ultimately if we just kept playing how we were we knew we were going to have a chance at least to tie it up,” Kagiavas said about his team responding to their first deficit of the year. 

In the 65th minute, sophomore Abby Gillespie deflected a shot into the net to tie up the game. Just 21 seconds later, freshman Danielle Chatten scored her second goal of the season to put the Scots up 2-1. 

“This group has a mentality that no matter what they’re going to do [they’ll do] whatever they need to do to win these games,” Kagiavas said of the team’s tenacity. 

Baskey was able to stay perfect as she improved to 4-0-0 on the season.

“Sarah has been playing lights out. She has pulled off some incredible saves for us to keep us in games,” Kagiavas said. 

He also noted that his whole defense is “playing well” and specifically mentioned the play of seniors Shannon Regan and Jess Sandhas.

Michael McLaughlin is a sports editor for The Spectator. He can be reached at sports.spectator@gmail.com.

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