The women’s soccer team split their two games on the week against River State Conference (RSC) opponents this week. Point Park fell to Ohio Valley University in extra time 2-1 on Thursday, Sept. 30, on the road, and defeated Indiana University Kokomo 2-1 on Saturday, Oct. 2, at home. The win and loss officially leave the Pioneers with an overall record of 5-6 on the season, and 4-1 record for in conference play this year.

The first game of the week was an extremely close scoring affair in a road match up against the Ohio Valley Fighting Scots. The game started off with a quick goal coming from the Fighting Scots in the 5th minute on the second shot of the game to make it 1-0. From there, the game would stay in a deadlock almost an entire 60 minutes, as neither team would score until the second half. Point Park would finally respond with a goal of their own in the 63rd minute, as senior middle Kelsee McHugh would score off an attempted clear by Ohio Valley to tie the game up at 1-1. The game stayed tied all the way till the end of regulation, leading to a sudden death overtime between the two teams. Ohio Valley found a way to the back of the net quickly, scoring on the first shot of overtime after crashing the net to win 2-1 in the 92nd minute of the match.

Ohio Valley would end up doubling Point Park’s shots in the contest, firing off 18 shots with 10 landing on net, in comparison to the Pioneers’ 9 shots with 3 landing on net. Sophomore forward Jaylin Hunt would lead the team in shots with four and would be tied for first in shots on goal with one for the Pioneers. Sophomore Ella Serlin would start in net for the Pioneers, saving 8 of the 10 shots on goal against her.

Game two would be a much better result for the Pioneers, as they travelled back home to play at the Montour Junction complex to take on the IU Kokomo Cougars. Point Park would be the ones to come out of the gate firing this time, scoring the first goal of the game in the 9th minute off the foot of sophomore defender Athena Beck thanks to a penalty kick. IU Kokomo would keep the contest close however, firing off several close shots but never getting anything to go as the Point Park defense remained stout. The score would remain 1-0 until late in the second half, as the Cougars scored in the 80th minute off of a header that just made it past the keeper Serlin to tie it at 1-1.

Point Park was not looking for a repeat of Thursday’s game, and after some quick substitutions, senior forward Nola McGuire made sure of that. In the 88th minute, freshman forward TaMaya Wolford drove the ball down towards the Kokomo net, with McGuire right behind her. With only two minutes to spare, Wolford sent a cross pass right to the foot of McGuire, who was able to just get her foot on it to put it past the keeper as the defender was right on her tail. Point Park’s defense would then shut down the Cougars for the final minutes to guarantee the victory.

Point Park’s offense essentially replicated their game two performance to their first one, once again taking 9 shots but landing 4 on net this time, in comparison to the Cougars 14 shots with 8 landing on net. Serlin would get the win in net again as she saved 7 of the 8 shots taken against her. Wolford would lead the team in shots with 3 and assists with 1, as Freshman Madison Zerbe, Beck, McGuire, and Hunt would all time for shots on net with 1 a piece.

The Pioneers will look to keep to their winning ways as they head into the final month of regular season play, as the team will have a long road trip ahead of them as the season continues into late October. The team won’t have another game until Saturday, Oct. 9, when they play WVU Tech in Beckley, West Virginia at 5 p.m. Their next matches after that will take place on Thursday, Oct. 14, as they face off against Ohio Christian University in Circleville, Ohio at 1 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 23, against the University of Rio Grande in Rio Grande, Ohio at 5 p.m. All three games will be in conference matches against RSC opponents.