Elizabethtown College women’s soccer team beat the Arcadia University Knights this past Saturday for the first time in Blue Jay history. Although the rivalry has not been long-lived, as it began in 2008, it has always been exciting. Last year, the Jays tied Arcadia in double-overtime, but they would not be rejected again this year.
The Knights did not give the Jays the win, but made them earn it, starting by holding the Jays scoreless throughout the first half. Arcadia had many opportunities to score with a number of corner kicks to start the game, but senior Jess Manchak pushed back every Knights’ charge with three saves in 78:51 minutes. First year Dana Robidoux was able to get a few minutes in as goalie toward the end of the game. The Jays’ defense held Arcadia to only five shots on goal and stopped the league’s fourth-leading scorer, Kim Canfield. Robidoux said, “We worked together, trusted each other and put together a great 90 minutes where the whole team contributed. We held the rope.”
With the support of the stellar defense in the first half, spearheaded by Manchak and fellow senior Jess Mason, the offense was able to push the ball. The first goal came off the foot of sophomore Danielle Bond at the start of the second half during the 48th minute. Bond broke the gates open with the first goal of her career, breaking through two defenders in the process.
Within the next ten minutes, first-year Trisha Clark scored another goal off the pass of fellow first-year Kaceyanne Cerankowski to bring the score to 2-0. Clark’s goal marked her fifth of the season, bringing her total points up to 11. Clark’s points come from five goals, worth two points each, and a single assist. With her last goal, she became the first Jay to break double digits this season. In response to breaking double digits, Clark said, “It was great. I’m just happy to be able to contribute to the team and help in any way I can.” Clark is currently leading the team in points and is on track to surpassing last year’s leader at 19 points with eight regular season games remaining. On beating Arcadia, she said, “It is the best feeling. We really wanted to win it for our seniors, and I am proud that we were able to come together as a team and get a positive result [in this matchup] for the first time in our school’s history.”
The Blue Jays’ third and final goal would come unassisted from junior Alex Topa in the 69th minute of the game, pushing the ball past the Knights’ goalie Veronica Willig. Willig entered the game with an imposing 0.51 goals against average, but was unable to rebuff the Jays.
Last Saturday’s win was the beginning of the Blue Jays’ conference play, leaving them 1-0 in conference and 5-2-3 overall. The Blue Jays look to continue their winning streak with their game against Hood College Tuesday, Oct. 2. This will be the first conference matchup between Etown and Hood, as they are new to the conference. Hood and Stevenson University joined the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) this year, leaving the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC). Hood also started their conference debut with a loss against MAC opponent Widener University with a score of 0-4. Hood has started the season with a record of 0-1 in conference and 2-7 overall.