(Dover, Del.) – Friday evening - the first of a season-long four-game homestand - the Delaware State women's soccer team (1-4-1) nearly pulled out its first home win of 2015, but managed to settle for a 1-1 draw with the visiting Wagner Seahawks (1-5-1).
With this tie, the Hornets moved to 2-7-1 all-time against the Seahawks, while Wagner failed to pick up its first victory since a 4-2 road victory at Saint Peter's on Aug. 26.
“The record for us usually in overtime was that we don't come out and we don't finish,” said DSU head coach Kerri Scroope afterwards. “So to get the tie was a big jump in our program for us.”
Both goals during Friday night's contest occurred early in the first half, beginning with defender Samantha Bahr finding Taylor Love (2) at close range during the seventh minute. Despite scoring the goal, Love gives Bahr a lot of the credit for making the play happen.
“It was all because of Sam,” said Love, who is DSU's top-scorer through six games. “Regardless if the goalie was there or not, she didn't stop and I just knew I had to get my touch on it and it had to go in.”
The Seahawks, on the other hand, answered a little over four minutes later with midfielder Megan Fritz (3) putting it past DSU's Michele Lammers also at close range, after a shot by midfielder Taylor Sackaris.
“The goal they had scored was just a mental mistake,” added Love. “Because the rest of the game, we didn't let it happen again and this is really how we play. We should have won.”
Despite the game remaining scoreless the rest of the way, there was plenty of action to go around. When the final buzzer sounded, the two squads combined for 35 fouls, whereas the Hornets tallied a season-high 15 shots. One of the best scoring chances for DSU occurred during the 71st minute, when forward McKenzie Miller drew a Wagner foul resulting in a penalty kick situation. Unfortunately, Miller failed to capitalize, as WU's Kaitlin Flaherty collected one of her a game-high four saves on the night.
In the final minute, the Hornets had back-to-back opportunities at close range with midfielder Morgan Pottinger and forward Ayanna Smith in position to give DSU its first overtime victory of the season. Nevertheless, neither attempt failed to get past Flaherty for the game-winning score.
Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will wrap up a busy stretch of playing three games in five days on Sunday (3 p.m.) against the Manhattan Jaspers. The two squads last met in 2013, as the Jaspers pulled out a 2-0 home victory.
“We grew a lot today and that's all that matters,” added Scroope. “We need to continue to play with this type of effort on Sunday against Manhattan.”
