DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A career night by
Grace Foyer lifted the Embry-Riddle women's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Eckerd in Sunshine State Conference play, Saturday at the ERAU Soccer Stadium. Prior to Saturday's game, the freshman only had one goal in her Embry-Riddle career; against Eckerd (4-5-1, 2-4), she scored three times in front of an ERAU Homecoming crowd to help the Eagles improve to 5-3-1 overall and 3-2 in league play.
All three of the Eagles' goals came on set pieces as ERAU bested the Tritons 17-10 in shots and held an 8-3 advantage in corner kick attempts. Although the Tritons edged the Eagles 8-7 in shots on goal, the ERAU defense limited the visitors to shots from outside the penalty area.
While both teams combined for nine shots in the first period, none were especially dangerous until the very last second of the half when Eckerd was called for handling the ball inside the box.
Eva Jonsdottir took the penalty kick, but her shot was stopped by Eckerd goalkeeper Cadence Talbert and first half ended with both teams locked in a 0-0 tie.
Early in the second half, Eckerd took a shot that required a save off the line by an ERAU defender, but it was the Eagles who finally ended the scoring drought at the 53:31 mark. Foyer finished
Sofia Munthe Nilsson's corner kick and the freshman's second goal of the season put the Eagles up 1-0.
The lead was short-lived, however as less than three minutes later, Kendall Drummond beat
Oona Jokinen with a long-range shot to level the match at 1-1.
With 11:27 left in regulation, Foyer struck again. Another Eagle corner kick, this time from the right side of the pitch, was taken by
Isabelle Navren. Playing at the back post, an umarked Foyer rose to head home her second goal of the evening and give the Blue and Gold a 2-1 advantage.
At the 9:54 mark, the Tritons were forced to play short-handed as Hajar Benjoud picked up her second yellow card and had to leave the game.
Two minutes later the Eagles capitalized on the player advantage and this time the set piece came in the form of a free kick from about 35 yards away from the goal.
Anita Agustsdottir's free kick made its way to the edge of the six-yard box and took one bounce before Foyer ran in to head it into the far side netting to seal the win.
"Danielle's [Fotopoulos] group is a hard-working group that makes it tough to break down," ERAU Head Coach
Samantha Bohon commented. "We took a little bit to get going but then started playing. We had good stretches where we kept the ball well and put them under pressure. It felt good to score some goals and have some breathing room at the end. And, I'd say that's a good night for Grace too!
"The atmosphere for homecoming provided a fun energy and it's fantastic to come away with three points. We hope we can get a similar home crowd for Wednesday as we put our attention towards Rollins."
Next up for the Eagles is a rematch of the 2019 SSC Tournament title game as the Eagles will host Rollins at 7 p.m. at the ERAU Soccer Stadium.
The Embry-Riddle Women's Soccer season is presented by Radiology Associates.
