Eagles Drop Last Minute Heartbreaker to McDaniel, 3-2

By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: JD Cavrich Photography 

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – It took until the 89^th minute for the game-winning goal to be scored in the Juniata College women's soccer teams' 3-2 loss to McDaniel College, Saturday afternoon. The Eagles fell to 8-3 on the year and suffered just their second home loss of the season.

"Certainly a disappointing result," said head coach Scott McKenzie. "With all due respect to our opponent, we lost the game they didn't necessarily win the game. We have to commit fewer mistakes if we want to play at a championship game level. Today we committed more mistakes than they did and we got punished for them. Good teams will always hop on a mistake and they are a good team, as are we. We hopped on some of their mistakes and they hopped on ours. When you want to play at this level, and teams are this even, it comes down to execution. Today we didn't execute as well as we could have.

The Green Terror opened scoring less than five minutes into the match. McDaniel's Nicole Hill netted her seventh goal of the year off a header to put the Eagles in trouble early. McDaniel continued to pressure Juniata deep in its own end, but in the 18^th minute the Eagles punched back with a goal of their own.

Senior Alicia Snyder (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) found empty space on the near side of the McDaniel goal and ripped a shot. The Green Terror goalkeeper made a diving save and the rebound came out to sophomore Emily Green (Marietta, Pa./Donegal) who pounced to tally her fifth goal of the year.

The Eagles took their first lead of the match in the 36^th minute when a through ball, behind the McDaniel midfield, released senior Paula Pryor (Westbrookville, N.Y./Burke Catholic) into space. With a defender on her back, Pryor took a touch around the oncoming McDaniel goalkeeper and finished her shot for her team-leading ninth goal of the season.

The Green Terror responded six minutes later with the equalizer off a long-range blast. The two teams entered the break knotted at two all. The second half continued the intensity of the match, with both teams earning dangerous chances in front of the goal. With 1:18 left in regulation McDaniel scored the go ahead goal and, despite earning two corner kicks in the closing minute, the Eagles were unable to tie the game.

"The disappointment that they are feeling, that we are all feeling, coaches included, can help of hurt us," said McKenzie. "It can help us if it tasks us to a higher resolve with regards to training and a commitment to making fewer mistakes. It can hurt us if we just dwell on it. What we have to do is just digest the disappointment and have it work itself into our system in the form of hard work."

Juniata took 13 shots in the match and out-cornered McDaniel 5-3. The Eagles next play at home Saturday, Oct. 12^th, in a Landmark Conference matchup with Goucher College at 1 p.m.

"We have prided ourselves on being a fit team and we will commit ourselves to increasing our fitness level as we prepare for Goucher," said McKenzie. "What do we do best? We attack. We push forward. For a lot of reasons, the girls have had this [next] game circled on their calendar for a while. We're going to really make sure that by the time Goucher gets here there is absolutely nothing these girls think they can't do."

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