By JOHN LICHINA
Staff Writer
Nov. 8, 2013
Jesse Thiessen, ’17, collected two first half goals against DePauw on Wednesday to send Allegheny to the NCAC Championship match this weekend.
Two weeks ago, DePauw beat the Gators 2-1 in Meadville. The winning goal came with two minutes left, and raised some controversy as to whether or not offsides should have been called.
About 20 minutes into the matchup, a clean string of passes took the ball from Allegheny’s goal box to DePauw’s back post where it was knocked home. The decisive touch came from Nikki Augustine, ’16, in an offside position.
Ten minutes later, another productive sequence of passes found Thiessen one-on-one at the back post. A quick move to the inside shook her defender. Then, a left-footed shot into the far bottom corner beat the goalkeeper, giving the Gators a 1-0 lead.
Thiessen’s second goal, and ninth of the season, was more of an individual effort. She shook a DePauw defender in the run of play, leaving her all alone with the goalkeeper. Theissen’s shot was good and Allegheny was up 2-0.
“You can’t let up,” said Sarah Schindler, ’16, “but it was nice knowing they had to breakthrough twice to get to us.”
Allegheny’s tenth win of the season (10-5-4) sets up a date in Meadville against Wittenberg in an NCAC Championship match. The two played a 1-1 draw last Saturday.
“They are the team we expected to see in the final,” said goalkeeper Gabby Curtis, ’15. “They always have been a strong team and it will definitely make for an exciting match-up.”
Saturday marks the first conference championship match for Allegheny women’s soccer since 2011. The Gators fell to Ohio Wesleyan 1-0 in that matchup.
“We have to get into our rhythm early, holding on to the ball more, limits their shots and then just keep running them around,” said Head Coach Michael Webber. “We had success with that in the second half of last match when we were down a player.”
Allegheny is looking to claim its first ever NCAC title in women’s soccer this weekend. As champions, they would go forth to represent the conference in the national tournament which will start the following week. The match will kick-off at Robertson Complex at 11 a.m. Saturday.
