Both sides entered the contest at 3-0 in Crossroads League play, but after 90 minutes it was the Spring Arbor University women's soccer team that would remain unblemished, as the Cougars downed visiting University of St. Franics 2-1 on Wednesday evening.
Spring Arbor applied pressure throughout the match and launched 24 shots in the contest compared to just seven for the visitors. Senior Karly Linton led all players in shots, placing seven of her ten efforts on the USF frame, and singlehandedly outshooting the visiting Cougars.
It was senior Brooklyn Morgan who got things rolling for SAU in the 36th minute. The St. Francis defense finally bent to the point of breaking when freshman Corrie Good danced around one defender near the endline before slotting a pass back to Morgan, who settled it and unleashed a right footed laser that hit the inside of the back post, just beneath the crossbar, beating USF keeper Sammy Scarengelli cleanly for a 1-0 SAU lead.
Scarengelli had a couple other dicey first half moments as Spring Arbor unloaded 13 shots in the first frame, however the hosts went into the halftime intermission up just 1-0.
Karly Linton notched her Crossroads League leading 13th goal of the season in the 67th minute off an assist from sophomore Shannon Balcer. Linton took Balcer's pass and then cut back on a defender near the top of the USF penalty area before drilling a low bullet past Scarengelli into the far side netting for what would turn out to be a very important tally later in the match. Linton has scored at least one goal in six straight matches for the Lady Cougars and leads the nation in game winning goals with six this season.
Absorbing the Spring Arbor pressure, the visiting Cougars looked to get out in counter attacks whenever they could, targeting sophomore forward Heather Jones with their searching long balls.
In the 73rd minute USF would get the break they were looking for. Rushing out on a counter attack, left back Kristin Call found a loose ball at the top of the Spring Arbor defensive third on the left flank, approximately thirty yards from goal. Call wound up and hit a near perfect shot to the far post that found daylight past Spring Arbor goalkeeper Sarah Yancer's dive and nestled into the upper 90 to cut the lead in half.
Spring Arbor defenders Courtney Harrison, Megan Sullivan, Becca Lynn, Rachel DeLancey and Kristina Sobel took over from there, not allowing USF any clean looks at the Spring Arbor net over the final fifteen minutes of play.
Spring Arbor put 15 of it's 24 shots on goal through the evening, forcing Scarengelli into ten saves in the contest. Yancer collected four saves for SAU in the win.
SAU moves to 10-2-1 overall and 4-0 in Crossroads League loop play, while USF falls to 8-4 and 3-1 in the league tables. Spring Arbor is one of two remaining unbeaten teams in Crossroads League play. Grace College defeated Bethel College 5-1 today to remain tied with the Cougars atop the table. USF falls into a tie with Mount Vernon Nazarene University for third place with identical league records of 3-1. Both team's losses came at the hands of Spring Arbor.
The Cougars will get little time to rest, as they welcome Taylor University (8-4/1-3) to campus for a showdown on homecoming weekend this Saturday. The match will kick off at 7:00 p.m.
