Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Lady Pioneers fall short

 Point Park University freshman, Anna Shaw, had a career high of 16 saves and faced a total of 29 shots, but it was not enough to stop Walsh University from beating the Pioneers in a 2-0 conference loss Friday evening at Founders Field. Despite the loss, goal keeper Shaw has an impressive 35 saves for the season and has allowed only five goals to be scored against her.”They were good goals by Walsh,” junior goal keeper, Liz Velez said. “We didn’t have a huge break down.  We were just out-played for those brief moments.”For first-year Head Coach Mark Platts, it was a homecoming of sorts, causing him to face the team where he served as an assistant coach for the past four years. Walsh forward Carley Adams made the first goal of the game after the nine minute mark to give her team the lead.  Point Park was able to stay in stride with the Cavaliers until the last few seconds of the first half where defender Olivia Buttery scored, giving Walsh the decisive lead.  The Pioneers did not allow any more goals in the game, but were not able to score themselves.  “The whole team was playing a very good defense,” sophomore midfielder Karly Shorts said, “Our offense was man-marking, and our midfield came back to help on defense.”Point Park has allowed a total of 12 goals to be scored against them in their four games this season, six of those coming from a loss Thursday night against Westminster College. Last season the Pioneers allowed 32 goals in their 16 games played.   “We couldn’t get it in the back of the net,” said Shorts, who had two shots, one on goal, from her position of outside midfielder. “Amanda Trainor and Colleen Poploski really stepped up this game,” Velez said.  Colleen Poploski, a freshman forward from Bethel Park Pa., had three shots against Walsh; two of the shots were on goal.  Senior midfielder Amanda Trainor had one shot on goal to help Point Park with their total of seven shots in the game, four of those being on goal. “We need to have our attack on target,” Shorts said. Junior midfielder/forward Lauren Evans has a total of nine shots for the year, tying her number of shots taken last year.  She has also exceeded her four total shots on goal last year in the first four games of this year with a total of eight shots on goal.   The Pioneers have scored a total of four goals this season, three of which were scored in the season opener win against Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.  “It stinks to lose, but it wasn’t a huge defeat for our team because we played really well,” Evans said. Walsh is currently 1-1 in their American Mideast Conference (AMC) play and is 6-1 overall.  As this is Point Park’s first conference game, the team is currently 0-1 in conference and 1-3 overall. Shorts said the team is more “intense and serious” than in the past.  In the 2009 season, the Pioneers had a record of 2-13-1 overall and 0-10-1 in conference play. In 2008, the team was 4-10-4 overall and 1-9-3 in their conference. The next conference game for the Pioneers is against Malone University on Tuesday Sept. 28 at Founders Field at 5 p.m. “The team has turned around from previous years,” Evans said. She added that for a winning season, the team will need “to be dedicated and give 100 percent, not just in the games, but in practice too.”

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