The Gannon University women’s soccer team celebrated Homecoming in style Saturday, pushing across three second-half goals to take a 3-0 victory over Shippensburg in a PSAC matchup at McConnell Family Stadium.
The victory, coupled with a 3-1 loss to Slippery Rock Thursday, left the Knights with a 4-3-1 overall record and a PSAC mark of 4-3 going into Wednesday’s 6 p.m. home matchup with Clarion.
Saturday’s Homecoming triumph marked the 16th straight regular-season home victory for the Knights, dating back to the 2014 season.
Gannon needed single goals in the second half from Nicole Felice, Taylor Lewis and Bethany Perri to secure the win.
The first half was a stalemate on the scoreboard, but the Knights had several scoring chances, including two straight shots that hit the post and the crossbar in the 27th minute.
Altogether in the first half, Gannon had 10 shots on goal but not a single one went in.
The second half brought the Knights a new sense of energy and confidence. In the first couple of minutes in second half, Felice snapped the scoreless tie with a goal off an assist from Hannah Manczka on a corner kick.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Knights increased their lead to 2-0 when Lewis scored her sixth goal of the year with an assist from Emily Cekella.
Perri closed out the scoring in the game’s 85th minute as she blasted home a shot from 35 yards out for her first goal of the season.
Shippensburg had three corner kicks but was denied by the defense and Shannon Differ, who had four saves in the first 62 minutes of play. Danitza Indacochea also played well as a goalkeeper with two saves.
In the matchup with Slippery Rock, Gannon scored first when Lewis deposited her fifth goal of the season in the 34th minute of play, but The Rock answered with three goals to secure the win.
Slippery Rock’s Maddy Tletski scored a goal in the 38th minute of first half and added a second goal a little over six minutes later.
The yellow cards were being dealt out as well to Gannon with Differ picking up one and Felice picking the other one up.
Even Tletski picked up a yellow card in the 57th minute for the winners. Tess Keely closed the scoring with a goal in the 63rd minute.
Lewis registered three of Gannon’s five shots on goal, with Britney Barry and Manczka notching the other two.
Following Wednesday’s home match with Clarion, the Knights will take to the road for three straight games.
Gannon first will travel to Mansfield for a 1:30 p.m. match Saturday, and then visit Edinboro for a 6 p.m. match Tuesday. The Knights will finish off the road swing with a date at Kutztown on Oct. 15.
STEVEN PITCAIRN
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