BOXSCORE Box Score
GENEVA, N.Y.—The Fredonia State women's soccer team scored in the 30th minute and held off No. 1 ranked William Smith for a 1-0 win in a non-league match on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils improve to 4-1-0, while the Herons are now 4-1-1.
Fredonia State's
Catie Hale pushed a pass ahead to
Katie Kleine who beat her defender and placed a shot just inside the left post and out of the reach of the diving Heron goalie, junior
Chelsea Dunay. The goal that came 29:33 into the match was all the Blue Devils would need to secure the win.
"We played a risk/reward system in the first half," said head coach
Chris Case. "We got up and forced them (William Smith) to play with a sense of urgency. They are not used to [playing from behind]."
William Smith came close to scoring on a few occasions to open the second frame. "They came out in the second half ... and much of our time was spent defending our own end early on," said Case. "We defended well and were able to offset their edge in shots."
One of the William Smith's best scoring chances came in the 55th minute. Sophomore
Madeline Buckley banged a shot off the crossbar. Senior
Whitney Frary collected the rebound, but fired wide of the net. With 5:52 remaining in the match, senior
Renee Jensen sent a pass to sophomore
MaryClaire Pelletier who was right out in front of the goal. Her header went just inches wide of the right post.
The Herons outshot the Blue Devils 18-4 and earned seven corners in the second half. Overall, the Herons finished with a 22-7 lead in shots and a 9-1 edge in corners.
The Devils also had a near miss. With about eight minutes to go, there was a flurry of action in front of the William Smith net. The Devils' first shot beat the Heron goaltender, but was blocked by a defender. "We had about three shots inside of 12 yards and almost made it 2-0" said Case.
Meaghan Meszaros made six saves in net for Fredonia State. Dunay finished with two saves in all 90 minutes in goal for William Smith.
Fredonia State hosts St. John Fisher Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
