LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University women's soccer team won, 2-1, at home against non-conference opponent Penn State Abington inside the Stillman Complex on Monday evening.
"Once again, our girls played well in spite of adversity." remarked Head Coach
Kailey Bartholomew.
"We are dealing with some injuries but we showed up in a big way on our home turf. We continue to improve and step up our play. I'm very proud of the girls. We possessed, and found feet and through balls very well. We had a few nice finishes that were because of our increasing technical play. Izzy made some big saves and a huge one in the waning seconds of the game. It was a very solid team win."
Penn State Abington (2-4-1) put the pressure on Cairn's (4-3) back line early, firing six shots on net within the first 20 minutes of the game. However, sophomore goalkeeper
Isabelle Lazor (Midland Park, NJ / Eastern Christian) was up to the challenge, turning all six shots away to keep the game tied. On the flip side, the Highlanders capitalized on their first significant opportunity in the 21
st minute when junior
Becca Marzinke (Quakertown, PA / Upper Bucks Christian) lofted a cross to classmate
Em Kuansongtham (Bangkok, Thailand / International Community School) who fired a shot over the keeper's outstretched arms to put Cairn on top, 1-0. The Highlanders added an insurance goal in the 38
th minute, when sophomore
Kathryn Reid crossed a ball into the box to an awaiting classmate
Julia Bruestle (Abington, PA / Abington HS), who rocketed a shot to the lower right side (her first career goal) to give Cairn a 2-0 lead heading into intermission.
The Nittany Lions made things interesting after they scored off a corner kick in the 76
th minute, but could not push another shot past Lazor as the Highlanders held on for a 2-1 victory.
Abington held the advantage in shots (20-11) and corner kicks (7-3), but the Highlanders made the most of their offensive output, scoring on two of their four shots on net. Lazor collected a career-high 15 saves in the complete game victory for the Highlanders, the most saves in a single contest by a Highlander net minder since 2017 (16,
Mackenzie Paugh, 10/11/17 vs. Centenary).
The Highlanders will be back on the pitch on Wednesday, September 21 when they are back inside the Stillman Complex for a non-conference tilt with Gwynedd Mercy University at 7 p.m.
