MEADVILLE, Pa. - The Allegheny women's soccer team roared back from a one-goal deficit by scoring three goals in a 15-minute span early in the second half to earn a 3-2 victory over Juniata at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.

The victory evens Allegheny's record to 3-3 on the season, while Juniata drops to 2-3 on the young season.

Taylor Renk, Isabella Martinez, and Shannon McGuinn scored the Gator goals, while McGuinn added a pair of assists, as the Gators roared back for the comeback victory.  

Allegheny posted the first two shots of the game in the first half, but the Eagles found the scoreboard first, as Talia Bertrando planted from 25 yards out and lofted a high, arching shot just over the outstretched arms of Gator keeper Maya Hackman to make it 1-0 in the 18th minute.

The Juniata strike seemed to invigorate the Gators, who would embark on a number of lengthy possessions and looked primed to tie the game. The best chance to knot the score early on came in the 24th minute, when a rocket from Hannah Smith from 15 yards out went just high and banged off the crossbar. Seven minutes lefter after another long possession, a shot from Martinez beat the Juniata defense but went just wide of the goal.

The Eagles posted a pair of shots that went wide over the final five minutes of the half, and their lead stood at one goal at the break.

The Gators came out of the intermission on fire, with Martinez netting the equalizer just 65 seconds into the second half.  McGuinn dribbled deep into Juniata territory toward the end line, and after drawing a pair of defenders, threaded a perfect centering pass to Martinez, who tapped it in from less than five yards out. 

The tie was short-lived, however, as following the ensuing whistle, the Eagles' Brooke Rotheram blitzed through the Gator defense and converted on the breakaway to give the one-goal lead back to Juniata just 20 seconds after Martinez's score.

Just two minutes later, the Gators again drew even, when McGuinn sent a long pass up the middle of the field to Renk, who won a footrace to the loose ball against Juniata keeper Gianna Canale and lofted it from 15 yards out into the open goal to make the score 2-2 with 38:55 left in regulation.

The Gators continued to maintain the edge in possession over the next several minutes, and the relentless pressure paid off in the 59th minute.  Renk picked up the ball near midfield, and raced through the Eagle defense toward the corner.  She then changed direction and charged to the box, where she found McGuinn with a pass on the doorstep, who blasted it into the upper corner from less than 10 yards out to put the hosts up 3-2.

Juniata would up its offensive pressure over the final 20 minutes of the match, but the Gator defense proved to be up to the challenge. Between the 74th and 79th minutes, the Eagles posted four shots, but two were blocked by the Allegheny defense, and a pair sailed wide. 

With 5:30 left, a foul just outside of the box gave Juniata a dangerous set piece from less than 20 yards out, but Hackman gobbled up the free kick attempt.  Just over 90 seconds later, Hackman made another save on a high shot from distance, and from there, the Gators were able to control possession for the final two minutes of play to seal the victory.

Hackman, the reigning North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week, finished with a pair of saves to earn the win.  Allegheny owned a slim 13-10 advantage in shots for the game, with Canale turning in three saves in goal for the Eagles.

The Gators will next return to action on Wednesday, September 19, when they make the trek south on Interstate-79 to take on Geneva College in a 4:30 p.m. non-conference matinee in Beaver Falls.

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