Box Score Langhorne, PA - The women's soccer team played out 110 minutes of CSAC soccer against conference rivals Gwynedd Mercy University on Thursday, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw.
Box Score
Cairn got on the board first and early. In just the fifth minute, after some nice ball movement from the Highlanders, freshman
Alyssa Leister broke past her defender down the flank and put in a perfect cross into the path of an on-rushing
Amara Mills, who made no mistake about it.
It was the 3rd goal of Mills' season, and it was the type of goal the 4th-year player has a made a career of scoring. It was her 12th career goal.
The Griffins came right back, though, evening things up in the 11th minute of play. Maura Gifford finished a nice one-two move with teammate Casey Gaughan to knot the score at one all.
For much of the remainder of the half, the Lady Highlanders had the Griffins pinned in their own half, with only sporadic counter-attacks from the visitors as a means to any kind of offense.
Cairn held an 8-3 advantage in shots during the first 45 minutes.
The second half was a very back-and-forth affair, with both teams having chances. However, the better of the chances fell to the Griffins, with none better than in the 80th minute. Ariety Fellenz found herself on a breakaway from 40 yards out but Cairn's
Naomi Collipp came up big with one of her nine saves on the day. With her save, Collipp made sure there would be an overtime.
Gwynedd Mercy outshot the Highlanders 6-1 over the course of both overtime periods, but failed to break down the Cairn defense, as the game would end 1-1.
That almost wasn't the case though, if not for a huge double-save from Cairn's netminder. After 103 minutes of soccer, GMU's Casey Gaughan sent a shot in that was headed into the far net when Collipp made a one-handed lunging save to push the ball away. Unfortunately, it was straight into the path of another GMU player, Kori Pantalone. Pantalone's one-timed effort back on goal was also saved by Collipp, preserving the score as it stood.
What a difference a year can make. Just a year ago, the Highlanders were outshot by the Griffins 26-2 and were on the end of a 6-0 loss. It was the fifth straight defeat at the hands of the Griffins since joining the Colonial States Athletic Conference in 2008. Over that time period, Cairn was outscored 29-1.
This marks the first non-defeat for the Highlanders against Gwynedd Mercy in that time.
Cairn's record now stands at 2-5-1 overall and 0-2-1 in conference play. The ladies travel to Cabrini College this weekend as they continue their quest for a CSAC playoff appearance.
