By KELLY GALLAGHER
Contributing Writer
The women’s soccer team defended their spot at the top of the North Coast Athletic Conference with a victory over the Hiram Terriers with a final score of 2-0 Tuesday night.
The defense helped the Gators to seal their victory with senior Emily Karr recording her fifth shutout of the season. The Gators see room for improvement, even after their shutout victory.
“We played good at times,” assistant coach Linda Schirmeister said. “We definitely controlled the match, but we just played good enough. We should have put them away early.”
The offense did not post a goal until the 45th minute of play when rookie Emma Loniewski earned her first collegiate point with a pass to Emily Byers, ’13, who sent the ball sailing 25 yards into the net.
“These two have been putting in a lot of extra effort at practice,” head coach Mike Webber said. “They really took advantage of their playing time opportunity during Tuesday’s game and did exactly what we needed.”
At the 53rd minute of the match, Katrina Gazsi, ’13, secured the win for the Gators with a second goal assisted by Ashley Lehr, ’13.
The win keeps the Gators at the top of a tough conference. While happy with the win, the Gators still agree that there are some much needed adjustments.
“We just needed to play our game,” senior Alex Gordon said. “We passed well but should have been ahead by more overall. There is never a bad time for a goal, but we need to score earlier to gain momentum.”
The Gators need to score three points in their next match versus Kenyon to remain at the top of the standings.
“The next four games are the most important in relation to conference rank,” said Webber. “Every team is solid from top to bottom.”
Facing Kenyon this Saturday, the Gators know what is at stake in the next four games as they try to hold on to first place in the standings.
“Kenyon is a tough team, but it will put us in a really good spot if we beat them,” said Gordon. “We just need to capitalize on every opportunity.”
“I’m very confident in our team’s ability,” said Webber. “We just need eleven girls to all be ready on the same day.”
The Gators will face off against Kenyon at home on Saturday at 2 p.m.
