Women’s soccer continued their winning ways last week, pulling off back to back home wins on Wednesday, Sept. 22 and Saturday, Sept. 25, against Washington Adventist Shock (2-1) and the Carlow University Celtics (1-0). The wins put the Pioneers at 4-5 on the season, but more importantly, placed the team at 3-0 in River State Conference (RSC) play this year. The team now sits in second place in the RSC.

The Pioneers’ first game of the week was a nail-biter against Washington Adventist University. Point Park had a rough start, with an own goal in the 14th minute, being the first goal of the game going for the Shock. The Pioneers would not be deterred though, and would come back with a goal of their own by senior forward Nola Mcguire in the 24th minute, who was assisted by sophomore forward Chanell Britten. This came after both players had been subbed into the match only 10 minutes prior. The game would stay at a 1-1 deadlock all the way down into the second half, and would stay that way until the last five minutes of the match. In the 84th minute, freshman forward TaMaya Wolford took a shot that would end up wide of the net. In the next minute, Wolford made sure not to miss this time, knocking through the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead.

It was an odd showing for the Pioneers, with the team taking a whopping 29 shots, but only landing 9 of said shots on net throughout the match. However, Point Park’s defense showed its strength by keeping the shock to 5 shots in the contest. Sophomore goalkeeper Ella Serlin stopped all 5 shots she faced in the game.

The second game of the week was a Pittsburgh grudge match with Carlow University, a school only a mere two and a half miles east of Point Park. The first half was a close contest, with the Pioneers taking 8 shots compared to the Celtics 7, with 3 and 2 of them landing on net respectively. Point Park was more proactive in the second half, with the team taking 10 shots in comparison to a measly 3 fired off by Carlow. In the 73rd minute, Wolford, only 72 hours after she had just scored the go-ahead goal against Washington Adventist, did it again with a chip shot goal from just inside the box to put the Pioneers ahead 1-0 over the Celtics. The Pioneers’ defense would come up big for the rest of the match, only allowing a single shot that went wide to keep the shutout intact and defeat their intercity rivals.

The Pioneers would lead the way in shots with 18, with only 6 landing on net in the contest. Carlow on the other hand would take 10, but only land 3 in yet another defensive showing for Point Park. After Saturday’s game, the Pioneers have now only allowed one goal in their last four matches, with Serlin picking up the shutout yet again. Wolford now leads the team in points with 6, shots with 18, and goals with 2 on the season.

The Pioneers will look to continue their winning ways this week with more RSC play, starting with a road match against first place Ohio Valley University in Vienna, West Virginia, on Thursday, September 30, at one in the afternoon. On Saturday, Sept. 2, the Pioneers will play a home match against RSC rival Indiana University Kokomo at noon. This match will take place at the Montour Junction Sports Complex in Coraopolis, due to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds having a home game that day. All home games are still streamable through the Point Park Athletics website.