Box
Score
Elizabethtown, Pa. - Junior
forward Sophia Esparza (Silver Spring,
Md./Montgomery Blair) netted back-to-back goals to help the St.
Mary's College of Maryland women's soccer team outlast the
Elizabethtown College Blue Jays, 3-2, in non-conference action
Saturday afternoon.
Esparza blasted in a long ball that hit the
crossbar and went in to give St. Mary's (4-0-1) the would-be
game-winner at 50:51.
Elizabethtown (2-2-1), who is ranked seventh in the NSCAA Middle
Atlantic Region poll, struck first just 4:20 into the contest as
sophomore forward Mallory Murphy (Pottsville,
Pa./Pottsville) took a feed from senior defender Carly
Hoskins (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) and put it past senior
Marie Oben (Glenn Dale, Md./St. Mary's, Annapolis)
for the early 1-0 lead.
Senior forward Lauren Carrier (Crownsville,
Md./Old Mill) knotted the match at 1-1 as Carrier
outran the defense for a loose ball and then found the back of the
net with her team-leading sixth goal at 14:23.
The Blue Jays once again took a one-goal lead at 25:56 when
junior forward Christina Sheppard (Millville,
N.J./Millville) fired in a shot from 18 yards out that went over
Oben.
Esparza netted her first of the day at 36:38 as
she dodged the defense and then chipped it in past a sliding
Angela Freeland (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) for the
2-2 tie at halftime.
Elizabethtown edged the Seahawks in both shots (11-9) and corner
kicks (4-3).
Oben finished the afternoon with just one save,
while Freeland racked up four.
St. Mary's continues its tough schedule next Tuesday, September
16 when the Seahawks host No. 15 Johns Hopkins University in
non-conference action at 4:00 in Seahawk Stadium.
