The women’s soccer team defeated conference rival, the Canisius College Golden Griffins with a score of 2-1 on Saturday, Sept. 28 at The Great Lawn. The Hawks improve to 8-1 overall and 2-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) while the Griffins fall to 3-8-1 for the season and 1-2 in the conference. With the win, the Hawks remain in first place for the MAAC women’s soccer standings.
The Hawks opened the game in dominating fashion with MU senior forward Monique Plescia scoring the game’s first goal in the 17th minute of play. Plescia had four shots, two of which were on goal, in the match. The goal marks her second of the season.
“Dana (Costello) passed it towards the line with a nice flick and I put a touch in and just crossed it and Mo (Plesica) followed it in and scored,” freshman forward Alexis McTamney explained. McTamney was awarded the assist.
The blue and white then suffered a defensive breakdown as Canisius tied it up in the 28th minute. Canisius seized the opportunity as Brianna Smith scored an unassisted goal marking her seventh of the season for the Golden Griffins.
MU had a chance to gain the lead at the end of the first half after they were granted a free kick., Senior forward Dana Costello took the kick for MU from roughly 30 yards out, and sent a line drive toward the net. However, several Golden Griffins defenders jumped up to deflect the shot and denied the goal. The game went into halftime tied at 1-1.
“Our message at halftime was that we created so many chances, we just have to finish them,” said head coach Krissy Turner. “There were point blank shots from inside the eight yard line, we were either hitting everything right at the keeper or not getting a shot off.”
The Hawks reflected Turner’s message in the second half as they quickly scored to regain the lead. As the clock read, 46:23, McTamney netted her sixth goal of the season. Junior back Alexa Freguletti was given the assist on the play.
“Alexa kicked it over to me, and I just one touched it,” McTamney continued. “The goalie hit it off her hand and it went in.”
McTamney led the team in shots with 11, four on goal, and 76 minutes for the blue and white.
With McTamney’s goal, MU secured the final score of 2-1 and their third consecutive win. McTamney’s strong play earned her the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Women’s Soccer Rookie of the Week Award for the third time this season. She was previously named Rooke of the Week on Sept. 3 and Sept. 9.
The Hawks heavily outshot Canisius 29-4 in the match, forcing Golden Griffins keeper Megan Tock to make 10 saves for the day. MU also controlled corner kick action as they held an 8 to 3 advantage over the Golden Griffins.
“Our success comes from using our athleticism and our skill to make the field as big as we can make it,” Turner continued. “I think if we can just start putting some chances away teams will have to come out at us more and that will open up more at the other end.”
The Hawks return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 2 when they host the Manhatten College Jaspers. The Jaspers are 3-7-1 for the season and have only won once when on the road. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 pm on The Great Lawn.
