LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University women's soccer team won, 4-3, in comeback fashion against Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) adversary Keystone College at home on Wednesday evening.

Before the contest, the Highlanders honored their five seniors for their contributions to the program over the years, Julia Wright (Harrisonville, PA / Shalom Christian Academy), Rachel Yoder (Telford, PA / Souderton), Kayla Koch (Sellersville, PA / Calvary Christian Academy), Victoria Ruitto (Ellington, CT / The Cornerstone Christian School) and Emily Minard (Columbus, NJ / Life Center Academy).
 
"This was the most hard-fought victory we have had all year. What a fantastic way to send our seniors off in style for their last regular season home game." remarked Head Coach Kailey Bartholomew. "The game started off tough, we were caught on our heels and gave up two goals early. We rebounded back nicely to end the half in a 2-2 draw. To say, our girls are resilient is an understatement. They left all of their heart and sweat out there on the field tonight."
 
"We need to recognize Tori, our fifth-year senior captain who came back from injury to not only start, play the entire game, and have a fantastic match, but capped it off with two back-to-back free kick goals for the tying-goal and go-ahead winning goal. I haven't seen a player score two sequential pivotal free kicks like that before."
 
Keystone (5-7-2, 2-4-2 CSAC) came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, scoring two quick goals within the first 12 minutes of the contest to take an early 2-0 advantage. Cairn (10-6-1, 5-3 CSAC) responded accordingly when junior Becca Marzinke (Quakertown, PA / Upper Bucks Christian) scored off a tic-tac-toe play from juniors Micaela Prate (Huntingdon Valley, PA / Calvary Christian Academy) and Ashanley Philippe (Santiago, DR / Santiago Christian School) to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 25^th minute. Cairn knotted up the contest at two a-piece when Marzinke found some space on the far side of the pitch and crossed the ball to an awaiting classmate Em Kuansongtham (Bangkok, Thailand / International Community School of Bangkok), who scored to tie the contest in the 30^th minute.
 
In the second half, the Giants regained the lead off of a tally in the 60^th minute and held that advantage until the waning minutes of the contest (3-2). However, Ruitto had the resounding answer for the Highlanders in the 79^th minute, scoring twice off of two set pieces to give Cairn a 4-3 lead. The Highlander back line held firm for the remainder of the contest and sealed a pivotal conference victory.

ICYMI:

Team Captain Tori Ruitto made Senior Day one to remember, depositing two free kicks into the back of the net in the second half to give Cairn women's soccer a huge comeback win in CSAC action over Keystone on Wednesday evening!#PursueExcellence #CairnWSOC #SoloCristo pic.twitter.com/Zj7p5DY3WD

— Cairn Highlanders (@CairnAthletics) October 27, 2022

Cairn narrowly outshot the Giants (20-18) and held the edge in corner kick opportunities (5-1). Ruitto led the offensive output with her first career two-goal game, while Marzinke followed with a goal and an assist. Sophomore net minder Isabelle Lazor (Midland Park, NJ / Eastern Christian) posted her 10^th victory of the season, making a match-high nine saves in the process.
 
The Highlanders will be back on the pitch on Saturday, October 29 when they hit the road for their final regular season matchup before the conference playoffs, taking on Clarks Summit University at 1 p.m.