Front Royal, VA – The Crusaders took on Penn State Beaver for their second home match of the season. They defeated the Nittany Lions in a convincing manner, as they won 10-0 for their third straight win.
Christendom took control of the contest early on, keeping possession and finding shots on goal at the beginning of the first half. In the 7th minute, Margaret Stahl (Junior/Linden, VA) played a beautiful through-ball from the back line to Catherine Thomas (Junior/Corpus Christi, TX) who found the back of the net, making the score 1-0. Then, in the 13th minute, Megan Lovar (Sophomore/Odenton, MD) split the defense with an assist to Thomas for the Crusaders' second goal. Next, Gracie Russo (Senior/Manassas, VA) connected with Ginny Stahl (Senior/Linden, VA), who struck a powerful shot over the goalie, giving the Crusaders a 3-0 lead. Russo then played another spot-on assist through the defense to Thomas, who scored Christendom's fourth goal.
Just one minute later, Russo found the back of the net, placing a perfect shot off of the bounce just over the goalie's head to make the score 5-0. Theresa Luckey (Freshman/Front Royal, VA), in the 22nd minute, made a beautiful shot into the upper right corner of the net, assisted by Mary Sabados (Junior/Pittsburgh, PA). Soon afterward, Maria Blank (Freshman/Woodbridge, VA) joined the scoring, as she placed a great shot into the lower right corner of the net, giving the Crusaders a 7-0 lead to finish out the half.
During the second half, both teams battled intense heat. In the 51st minute, Lovar found the back of the net, driving a ball past the goalie. Later, in the 84th minute, Luckey scored with a beautiful shot into the upper right corner of the goal, giving the Crusaders a 9-0 lead. Lovar finished out the scoring for the Crusaders in the 88th minute, placing a ball in the lower corner of the net and making the score 10-0. The Crusaders back line played another strong game, impressively preventing the Lions from recoding a shot on goal.
Up next: The Lady Crusaders play a USCAA DII match against the Penn State Mont Alto Nittany Lions on Saturday, September 9, at 1:00pm.