LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S SOCCER PAGE
A hard-fought match on Saturday (Oct. 19) afternoon at Ferguson Field resulted in the No. 18 Ashland University women's soccer team defeating Saginaw Valley State, 2-1, in a non-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference affair.
The Eagles' seventh consecutive victory moves them to 10-1-1 overall. It's Ashland's longest win streak since taking the first nine decisions of the 2015 season. The Cardinals are 6-5.
"We knew going into it that it was going to be a pretty even game," said Ashland head coach Taylor Clarke. "We always know that they are a tough, tough team to play against, and felt like we executed. We're super-happy with the energy that everybody brought today."
On the fourth shot of the sequence, in the 11th minute, sophomore midfielder Bella Petrock took a deflection and put it in the back of the Cardinal net for her second goal of the season to put the Eagles on top early.
"It showed our character and our perseverance today," Clarke said.
After having the better of play for the entirety of the first half, Saginaw Valley State's Valentina Giambanco knotted the game at 1 with eight seconds left before the break with her second goal of 2019.
In the 69th minute, senior forward Emily Ledbetter potted her third goal of the season to put the Eagles in front for good.
"You could feel the love that everyone had for her," said Clarke, "to be able to get something like that, and how much she cares about this program. She's made probably one of the best impacts she's ever made for this program."
The Eagles outshot the Cardinals by a 16-10 margin. Junior goalkeeper Hannah Lee is 8-0-1 this season after making four saves on Saturday.
"It's a commitment to not only getting a shutout, but a commitment to limiting team's chances," Clarke said.
Ashland's women played on Saturday for the first time in six days. They will have six more days off before their new outing, at Michigan Tech on Friday (Oct. 25) at 7 p.m.
AU
WSOC/DS