DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Freshman Julia Olsson netted the first goal of her collegiate career on Wednesday and that was all the Eagles need to defeat Tampa in Sunshine State Conference action at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium. The Eagles' 1-0 win over the Spartans snapped a four-game winless streak and improved ERAU's record to 4-4-2 overall and 2-3-2 in league play.
 
Midway through the first half, the Eagles had three corner kicks in a five-minute span and two of those set pieces proved dangerous for the Spartans. The Tampa defensive managed to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard as Hanna Rolfsen's shot was cleared off the line and Sophie Brundin's point-blank header was saved by the goalkeeper.
 
The Eagles' offensive onslaught paid off in the 33rd minute. Guro Naess Berge played the ball out wide to Elvira Ramel on the right side of the pitch. Ramel took a couple of touches before completing a pass to Olsson running across the top of the 18-yard box. Olsson shook her defender with one touch and rifled a shot from the right side across the face of goal and into the far side netting to put the Eagles up 1-0 with 12:35 left in the first half.
 
The Eagles had a chance to add to their tally late in the half, but Ragnheidur Gardarsdottir's shot was saved off the line by a Tampa defender and ERAU went into the halftime with the one-goal lead.
 
The start of the second half saw the Eagles control the majority of the possession, which led to a 4-1 advantage in shots in the first 20 minutes of the period. However, the Tampa defense was able to put bodies between the ball and goal, blocking ERAU's attempts on frame.
 
Late in the game, the Spartans increased their pressure on offense and had two chances to tie the score, but ERAU goalkeeper Dana Ruchti was up to the challenge, parrying Syd Griner's shot over the cross bar and corralling Lacy Nasello strike to secure the Eagle win.
 
Ruchti capped her third consecutive start in the Eagle nets with four saves on the night, while her Tampa counterpart, Caroline Frykgard finished with three saves as the Spartans fell to 5-4-1 overall and 2-4 in the SSC.
 
"I think the word relief comes to mind tonight." ERAU Head Coach Samantha Bohon stated. "We have been so close the last several games and came away with nothing to show for it. We scored a fantastic goal tonight and kept improving as the game went on. I'm so happy for our team because they have hung in there and kept working hard. This is a talented Tampa team and Erin [Switalski] organized them well tonight. It's a good result for us and we hopefully carry this momentum into a tough game Saturday."
 
The Eagles will be back in action at 6 p.m. on Saturday when they host Florida Southern at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium.