The UNC Wilmington Seahawks scored two goals in the first half in a span of 44 seconds
as they went on to claim the non-conference victory over the Patriots 3-1, Sunday afternoon
(Sept. 22) on the Patriot’s home field.
The Patriots’ home opener was ruined after coming off of a 0-6 road trip. The loss was in
front of a Youth Day crowd as the Patriots dropped to 0-7-0 on the season.
The Patriots missed out on two scoring chances in the first 15 minutes.
Head coach Frank Pitt didn’t make any excuses about the team’s play coming off of such
a grueling road trip. “Not playing at home does have an effect on team morale,” Pitt said. “However, we have
competed well in every game thus far. It’s a challenging schedule in that we could beat every
team on it, but if we don’t play well or show up we’re going to have problems whether at home or on the road.”
The Seahawks took a 1-0 advantage at the 20:45 mark when Katrina Guillou hit
Stephanie Bronson for a 15-yard shot from in front of the goal. Not long after, Maddie
McCormick found Guillou storming down the left side for the short tap-in score.
Patriot sophomore midfielder Arianna Pierner had a 13-yard shot bounce off the crossbar
at 9:14 and Smith was wide right on an attempt to knock home a beautiful cross from
senior Jordan Allen at 14:58.
Freshman midfielder Caroline Edmonds scored the only goal for the Patriots in the 78th
minute. A cross from the right side by Brittany Smith went through the six-yard box and was
eventually blocked by freshman forward Kelly Anthony to Edmonds who scored by the left post.
A few minutes later, Anthony had an opportunity to knock the Seahawks’s lead to only
one goal, but her free kick attempt from 35 yards out was knocked over the crossbar by
Seahawk’s goalkeeper Carolyn Huddy.
The resulting corner kick did lead to a shot by junior Teri Kourtis , but her attempt sailed way over the goal. The Seahawks outshot the Patriots 14-8 and led 8-4 in corner kicks. Patriot sophomore goalkeeper Taylor O’Berry, who is nationally ranked in total saves and
saves per match, increase her season average with an impressive seven saves. Coach Pitt is very
confident in O’berry’s ability and even more confident her potential.
“Taylor is doing a fine job for us in goal,” Pitt said. She’s still developing as a goalkeeper
and gaining confidence in many different areas of her position. She needs help from the team in
front of her to insure shots or chances are being contested and that our opponents don’t have free
chances at goal. I expect her to continue getting better and as such become more of a leader in
due time.”
Seahawks’ starting keeper Liisa Rahkola made one save along with Huddy, who entered
the match late in the 77th minute. The Seahawks increased their lead to 3-0 in the 41st minute