CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Mercyhurst women's soccer team dropped their seventh consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) game in another close battle Wednesday night at California (Pa.), 3-2. After tonight's loss, five of their seven conference defeats have been within one goal.
In the fourth minute of play, Janelle McCann received a pass from teammate Chelsea Crockett that she was able to put past goalkeeper
Ellie McDougall for the early 1-0 Vulcan lead.
McCann would strike again in the 13
th minute for her fifth goal of the season to take a 2-0 advantage.
Despite not scoring a first half goal, the Lakers were only out-shot on goal by two at the half, 7-5. The shots were in favor of the Vulcans, 10-6 as they also held the advantage in corner kicks, 3-2.
This has been the fourth consecutive game Mercyhurst has failed to record a goal in the first half. The last time was September 24 at Gannon when they scored both of their goals in the first period of play in a 4-2 losing effort.
Ten minutes into the second period at the 55:04 mark, junior
Lauren Testa found the back of the net off a pass from sophomore
Linnea Laitinen to cut the Vulcan lead in half, 2-1. It was Testa's seventh goal of the season and Laitinen's second assist.
However, in the 73
rd minute, the Vulcans would score off a Jordan Gray pass that was headed into the back of the net by Chelsea Crockett for her sixth goal of year and a 3-1 Cal lead.
Just two minutes later, Senior
Janine Wong brought the Lakers back within one with a little less than 15 minutes to play when she scored her fourth goal of the season on a penalty shot. Wong has now scored twice on penalty shots and free kicks this year.
The Lakers comeback effort fell short as time ran out.
The game was played evenly throughout. The Vulcans held the advantage in shots, 16-15 but Mercyhurst was able to record more shots on goal, 10-9. The corner kick advantage went to California, 5-4 and both teams each received a yellow card. Junior
Allie Cornacchia picked up the card for the Lakers in the 60
th minute while Cal's Jordan Gray received one in the 75
th.
McDougall faced 13 shots and recorded six saves as her record in net falls to 3-3-1.
With the loss, Mercyhurst is now 3-7-1 and 2-7-1 in conference play. California improves their record to 6-2-2 (6-2-1 PSAC).
Mercyhurst will be at home against #24 Slippery Rock Saturday, October 11. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
