Nine games into the season, the 16th-ranked Allegheny women’s soccer team is still unbeaten following a scoreless draw this afternoon against John Carroll at the Robertson Complex.
Allegheny (8-0-1) barraged the Blue Streak’s (3-5-2) defense with 31 shots, including 26 from the second half on, but could not finish off their opportunities.
Goalkeeper Emily Karr, ’12, needed only four saves to tally her NCAA-leading ninth shutout, as the Gators came out and characteristically dominated the second half. Allegheny has been scoreless at halftime six times this season, and in those games has outscored its opponents 6-0 in the second half of play.
Though they finished the game strong, the Gators were not at their best in the first half, nearly surrendering their first goal of the season.
“The first half, everyone was trying to do too much, but in the second half we started making better touches, and you could see it on the field,” said head coach Michael Webber.
Those touches resulted in the Gators playing the majority of the second half in the Blue Streak’s zone, with chance after chance either being saved by John Carroll’s goalkeeper Molly Gradowski, deflected by a defender or going just beyond a goalpost.
The Gators continued to create chances all the way until the final seconds of the game, as junior Georgia Frost’s rebound shot sailed over the crossbar with five seconds remaining. Frost had a similar chance in the second half after a scramble in the box following a corner kick, but the ball came to rest on top of the net instead of inside.
Chyna Strickland,’13, Julie Muller, ’11, and Alex Gordon, ’12, also contributed second-half scoring chances.
Allegheny hopes to continue riding its strong start as they open conference play Saturday at home against Oberlin.
