PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle University women's soccer team (6-2-1) fell to crosstown and conference rival Saint Joseph's (6-3-2) Sunday afternoon, 2-1. The lone goal for the Explorers came from sophomore
Molly O'Brien.
COACH SAYS:
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"I was happy to see the girls come out early and get a quality goal from Molly," said head coach Paul Royal. "I thought our energy going forward put ourselves in some dangerous areas to get a second one but by the second half it was a tale of two sides. You have to give a lot of credit to Jess and her staff for preparing their squad for this tough game. I felt they did a nice job taking care of the ball in large parts of the second half which disrupted our flow going forward."
"We really struggled to find any type of rhythm in the 2nd half but I thought the majority of our back line, Emily Wilkinson and Claudia Jenkins were outstanding today. It's unfortunate the result played out like it did, but I have a lot of faith and trust in our leaders to rebound from this negative. As we move forward we can definitely learn from this and begin to prepare for another very good A-10 team in Duquesne."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- It was O'Brien and the Explorers that struck first. During the fifth minute, senior Julia Rufe sent the ball over to O'Brien, who was able to drill the ball to the back of the net.
- The Hawks responded during the 55th minute to tie the game at one, eventually converting a penalty kick during the 63rd minute to take the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Rufe's assist is the first of her career.
- O'Brien is now second on the team with 6 points.
- Sophomore keeper Claudia Jenkins made eight saves on the day, just one shy of her career high set against Rutgers earlier this season.
UP NEXT:
La Salle is back in action on Thursday when it travels to Pittsburgh for a battle with Duquesne. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. start and will be broadcast on ESPN .
