LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University women's soccer team won, 3-2, at home against Immaculata University, claiming their first win of the 2022 season in the first-ever soccer contest held at the G. Patrick Stillman Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.
"It was a hard fought win." remarked Head Coach
Kailey Bartholomew.
"One of the themes for this year is response. The girls responded so well to adversity; there was heat, injuries, tired and sore legs coming off of another game less than 48 hours ago against another solid opponent. We responded very well to all of those challenges. We came out intense and set the tone early for the match and despite the adversity, we ended with a win. We aim to set a winning legacy on our new home turf field and we look to continue that. Coach Joel and I are very proud of them!"
Cairn (1-1) came out of the gates hot, as junior team captain
Teresa Lee (Jackson, NJ / Calvary Academy) delivered a corner kick to the foot of classmate and fellow team captain
Becca Marzinke (Quakertown, PA / Upper Bucks Christian) in the fourth minute, who scored to give the Highlanders a 1-0 lead. Cairn went back to work just two minutes later, as Lee danced through the midfield and fired a shot upper-right past the Immaculata (0-2) goalkeeper to give the Highlanders a quick, 2-0 advantage. The Mighty Macs did not go quietly, as they notched their first tally in the 31
st minute to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Highlanders took that lead into intermission.
Immaculata knotted the game up a two a-piece in the 53
rd minute and both teams reached a stalemate for the next 22 minutes of the contest. In the 75
th minute, Lee broke the tie after junior
Savannah Luce (Nairobi, Kenya / Rift Valley Academy) launched a throw-in from midfield into the breadbasket of freshman
Emilee Hess (Alburtis, PA / Salem Christian), who found some space and delivered a pass to Lee, who darted towards the goal and rocketed a shot past the keeper's right side to put the Highlanders back on top, 3-2.
Immaculata earned one final chance in the 87
th minute, but sophomore goalkeeper
Isabelle Lazor (Midland Park, NJ / Eastern Christian High School) turned away the opportunity to seal the win for the Highlanders.
Immaculata held the edge in shots (22-12) and earned a slight advantage in corner kick opportunities (3-2). Lee collected a career-high five points on the day, scoring two goals and assisting on Marzinke's tally in the fourth minute. Lazor posted a career-high 12 saves between the pipes en-route to the complete game victory.
The Highlanders will be back in action on Wednesday, September 7 when they make the trip to Lancaster for a non-conference duel with Lancaster Bible College at 7 p.m.
