DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's soccer team showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with this season in its season-opening game against Northwood on Saturday as the sixth-ranked Eagles blanked the fourth-ranked Seahawks 2-0 at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium.
The game pitted the teams that have topped in the standings in The Sun Conference's North and South Divisions over the last few years, however, Saturday's game was not a conference fixture and will not count toward either team's conference record.
"I'd like to give credit to Mat [Dunn] and his staff," ERAU Head Coach
Samantha Bohon said. "Northwood graduated some key players, as did we, but I thought that this was one of the best games between our two teams, in terms of soccer level, that we've ever had."
The Eagles, who lost by the same two-goal margin in the 2013 conference regular season title match, bested the Seahawks in every offensive category with a 12-4 advantage in shots and a 4-1 edge in corner kicks. Neither side was able to capitalize on their scoring chances, leading to a scoreless draw at the half.
Freshman
Annie Gelnaw entered the contest with 15 minutes left in the first half and was one of the 11 chosen by Bohon to start the second half. After a few threatening runs down the right flank, Gelnaw broke through with the first goal of her collegiate career in the 61st minute. The play started with Andrea Frøshaug who won the ball just inside the Eagles' defensive half. The junior completed a pass to
Katherine Ebbs who lifted a ball to Gelnaw racing down the right. Gelnaw dribbled the ball into the box and slipped her second shot of the game past Northwood goalkeeper Mathilda Hjalte to give the Blue and Gold a 1-0 lead.
With just over eight minutes remaining in the match, Frøshaug release
Isabelle Haaranen down the middle and Haaranen rifled home an insurance goal to seal the 2-0 win.
""I'm really excited for our girls," Bohon said. "It was great to get a win, but more than that, we actually put into play some of the things that we've been working really hard on in training. We're playing a little bit of a different system and we're playing people in different positions, and to see them respond against such a tough opponent with the composure they did was really exciting. I thought we had good stretches of possession, moving the ball around and Annie starting off her career with the game-winner against Northwood was pretty special.
"It's a long season so we're still coming away with things we need to work on, but happy to get this result to start off the year."
The Eagles travel to Prescott, Ariz. for a two-game road swing next weekend. The Blue and Gold will square off against No. 5 Concordia (Calif.) on Aug. 29 before taking on the team from Embry-Riddle's Prescott campus at 7 p.m. (MT) on Aug. 31.
