ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's soccer team recorded its fourth shutout of the season on Saturday, downing Eckerd 4-0 in a Sunshine State Conference road contest. The Eagles are now 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the league, while the Tritons move to 5-4-1 and 1-4-1 in SSC play.
Rita Okoro and
Isabelle Navren led the way for the Eagles with Okoro scoring twice and Navren registering a pair of assists. The Eagles controlled play from the first whistle and kept the Tritons pinned in their defensive half for much of the contest. By the time the clock expired, the Eagles had bested the home team 22-3 in shots, 13-1 in shots on goal and 15-3 in corner kicks.
ERAU dominated the offense in the early stages of the game, outshooting the Tritons 4-0 within the first 15 minutes of play. The Eagles created some dangerous chances early on, including a
Savanna Sheahan volley off a corner and
Julia Olsson's shot that went off the cross bar at the 11:56 mark.
In the 15th minute, the Eagles finally converted on one of their opportunities. The play started in the back with Anita Augustsdottir getting the ball to Navren on the right side. After settling a pass from Navren,
Julia Olsson found
Ragnheidur Gardarsdottir in the middle of the pitch and she got the ball to
Marie Myhrvold Seim, who spun before depositing her third goal of the year into the lower right corner to put the Eagles up 1-0.
Despite having a sizeable shot advantage, the ERAU lead at the intermission was only a goal. During the break, the Eagle players were challenged to finish more of their chances and they answered with three goals in the second 45 minutes.
Gardarsdottir was also involved in the Eagles' second goal of the evening. After receiving the ball about 10 yards outside the 18-yard box, she dribbled through three defenders before being brought down inside the penalty area. Okoro took the ensuing the set piece and rifled her first attempt from the penalty spot this season into the back of the net to put the Blue and Gold up 2-0 in the 53rd minute.
Four minutes later, the Tritons sent the ball out over the end line.
Sofia Munthe Nilsson's corner kick went off the goalkeeper's hands and fell directly into the path of
Savanna Sheahan who took a low strike in stride to make it 3-0.
Okoro and Navren combined for the final goal of the evening. Navren took the ball down the right side and delivered a low cross into the box where Okoro tapped it home from point blank range on the far post to cap the scoring.
"Tonight was a great team effort" ERAU Head Coach
Samantha Bohon said. "We asked a lot of players to impact the game and each did their role well. We challenged the group at halftime to be more precise in the box because we created some really quality chances that we didn't put away. Eckerd has some talent so you can't let them stay within striking distance for long. Overall, we're pleased with both the performance and result. This team has done a great job keeping their head down and focusing on the game at hand. Now, we're excited for the opportunity to play strong Rollins team next."
The Eagles are back on the road again on Wednesday when they travel to Winter Park to face 11th-ranked Rollins. That SSC game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.