MEADVILLE, Pa. - A goal by Wooster in the 80th minute broke a scoreless tie, and proved to be the difference, as the Fighting Scots spoiled Allegheny's home finale on a chilly evening under the lights at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.
In a game dominated by defense, the Fighting Scots' Harper Jones provided the lone offense with her strike with 9:49 left in regulation, as she lofted a chip shot just under the crossbar from 20 yards out. Wooster then packed in its defense over the final nine minutes of play to prevent any counterstrike by the Gators.
Reigning North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week
Colleen Fleming continued her stellar season between the pipes, as she recorded 11 saves, including a number on prime Wooster scoring chances. Offensively, the Gators totaled 13 shots on the night, but directed just six on goal, as Wooster's defense continually thwarted the Allegheny pressure within 10 yards of the goal.
Allegheny had the better of the play in the opening stages of the first half, out-shooting the Fighting Scots 6-1 in the first 18 minutes, while also taking a pair of corners. Wooster keeper Carly Eppler made a pair of saves of the span to keep the game scoreless.
After the opening flurry of Gator offense, the tide quickly turned, as Wooster seized the momentum for the middle 15 minutes of the opening stanza. Between the 20th and 27th minutes, Fleming was forced to make four saves, including what could have been her best stop of the season when she stymied Wooster's Erica White on a one-on-zero brekaway with a diving save with 17 minutes left in the half. Play evened out over the final 12 minutes of the half, with each team posting one shot, as the game stayed scoreless at the intermission.
Just two minutes into the second half, Wooster appeared primed to take the lead on a dizzying sequence in front of the goal line, but the Gator defense - and a little luck - prevented the ball from finding the net. A one-timer off of an entry pass from the sideline into the goal box was blocked by Gator defender
Emma Yates, with the carom trickling lengthwise across the goal mouth and off the post before it was smothered by Fleming.
Wooster continued to attack, out-shooting the Gators 7-2 over the first 25 minutes of the second half, but led by Fleming, the Allegheny defense kept the Fighting Scots off the board, with the Gator senior making four more saves over the span, including a fully extended dive to her left to snag a direct kick with 38 minutes left to go.
The Gators put together their best offensive stretch of the half between the 69th and 77th minutes, maintaining possession inside their offensive third, but were unable to find paydirt, as Eppler stopped three shots, including a header from
Jessie Thiessen off of a
Kayla Redner corner, and a blast from 25 yards out from
Hannah Smith.
After another Thiessen shot from in close went just wide, Wooster countered with the decisive attack, as Jones gathered a ball on the ensuing trip up the field 25 yards out, and after making a turn and taking a dribble, placed the shot just inside the cross bar over an out-stretched Fleming for the decding tally with 10:14 left in regulation. Though they held the ball for the majority of the final 10 minutes, the Gators were unable to put together a real threat, and were handed just their second loss in the past five matches.
Thiessen led Allegheny's offense with five shots on the night, while Redner, Smith, and
Isabella Martinez totaled two apiece. Eppler ended the night with six saves to earn the shutout for Wooster.
The Gators will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 29, as they make the long trek to Greencastle, Indiana to face DePauw in a 12 p.m. match to close out the regular season.
