Women split RSC road games

Goalie Webb reaches 300th career save

Written By Austin Alkire, Co-Sports Editor

The women’s soccer team was not in the prettiest spot heading into the week.

Coach Bethanie Moreschi and her Pioneers’ team were 2-3-1 in River States Conference (RSC) play before facing off against WVU Tech and Rio Grande.

Moreschi was looking for her team to be more dangerous in the final third and create more scoring opportunities. That was their plan, but the WVU Tech Golden Bears wanted the opposite.

In the first eight minutes of the game, Golden Bears’ forward Yasmin Del Valle put in her first of two goals, the latter coming nine minutes later.

With a Sydney Krakat goal in the 39th minute, Point Park went into the half down 3-0. Moreschi was just a little more than disappointed.

“I was pretty mad because this isn’t the team I know them to be,” Moreschi said. “I yelled for a bit, but then we had to solve it and discuss as a group what we could do to change this game around. We decided to play with two forwards instead of one as a start.”

Coming out into the second half, the Pioneers defense managed to hold strong, just like their goaltender, Ashtyn Webb, who stopped 19 of 23 shots in total.

Sophomore forward Tia Horew made the loss a little more bearable with a goal in the 80th minute. The Pioneers dropped to 2-4-1 in RSC play after falling to WVU Tech 3-1.

Moreschi praised her senior goalkeeper for her effort but knew her team could not let that happen to Webb again.

“I think we didn’t come out ready to play,” Moreschi said. “Therefore we played on our heels for the whole first half and allowed them to have a lot of opportunities on goal.”

Heading into their next matchup with Rio Grande, senior Bailey Boyd knew there needed to be a better effort in the team’s transition from offense to defense.

“[We need] a drive and passion for the game. A want to make it happen,” Boyd said. “[The offense] just need to use the tools they already have to keep our season alive.”

After much waiting, with the match being postponed two days due to inclimate weather, the Pioneers were looking for revenge.

Photo by Nick Koehler
Sophomore forward Tia Horew gives chase to a ball in a matchup at Highmark Stadium. Horew has five goals and ten points this season.

In the tenth minute, Horew tapped in Point Park’s first goal of the game. Nola McGuire followed suit by burying a goal in the 29th minute.

Just two minutes later, sophomore forward and leading point scorer Taylor Goldstrohm potted the Pioneers’ third goal of the half.

With a 3-0 lead heading into the half, Point Park was focused on defense.

Webb stood tall for her team the whole game, despite a Rio Grande goal in the final two minutes. With seven saves on the night, the senior goalkeeper eclipsed 300 saves in her collegiate career.

The win over Rio Grande moved Point Park to 3-4-1 in RSC play, putting them No. 7 in the conference.

The Pioneers close out the season at Montour Junction Sports Complex against RSC opponents Cincinnati Christian and Brescia.