Lady Lions Rally for 2-1 Win Over Bethany
ALTOONA, Pa. - A pair of second half goals helped the Penn State Altoona women's soccer team overcome a deficit and defeat non-conference opponent Bethany College 2-1 on Wednesday evening at Spring Run Stadium.
Kierra Irwin (Altoona, PA/Altoona) scored her second goal of the season for Penn State Altoona (2-5), while Kaitlyn Shon (Honolulu, HI/Kamehameha Schools) recorded her first collegiate goal. Sydney Emershaw (Dallas, PA/Dallas) made four saves at keeper for the Lady Lions to pick up her second victory of the season.
After a scoreless first half, Bethany (1-6) drew first blood at 59:43. A ball from Maria Concha Vazquez deflected to Riley Meyers, who fired a shot past the keeper into the bottom right corner of the net to give the Bison a 1-0 lead.
But Penn State Altoona knotted the score 1-1 at 67:59, when Irwin's free kick from outside the box deflected off of the leaping Bethany goalkeeper and into the net.
The Lady Lions got the go-ahead score at 82:26. The Bethany keeper attempted to clear the ball out of the box, but her kick came right to Shon, who fired a shot into the goal from 10 yards out to make it 2-1.
Penn State Altoona had a dominant performance offensively, posting a 24-8 advantage over Bethany in total shots -- including a 15-4 lead in second half shots. The Lady Lions also led 16-5 in shots on goal, as well as 3-0 in corner kicks.
Penn State Altoona's 24 total shots attempted are the most since the Lady Lions had 25 on September 24, 2016 against Pitt-Bradford, and their total of 16 shots on goal is the highest since they had 17 against Medaille College on October 3, 2015.
Irwin finished the day with game-highs with eight total shots and six shots on goal. Shoshana Mahoney (Sweet Valley, PA/Lake-Lehman) finished with three shots on goal and a total of six shots, and Haley Giedroc (Howard, PA/Bald Eagle) also recorded three shots on goal and tallied five total shots.
Next up, Penn State Altoona women's soccer opens Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play this Saturday, September 23 at 3:15 p.m., when the Lady Lions will be on the road to face Pitt-Bradford.
