Box Score
September 26, 2009
Rains Soaks EMU As Yellow Jackets Win
Junior Jess Myers was a constant scoring threat in EMU's loss to Randolph-Macon.
The Eastern Mennonite women's soccer team played their first home Old Dominion Athletic Conference contest Saturday night, but a steady rain hampered the home crowd and visiting Randolph-Macon seized a 3-1 win.
The Yellow Jackets dominated the first 13 minutes of play and scored their first goal at 8:30. Angela Nelms found a loose ball in front of the ball and fired a shot which deflected off
Abby Diffenbach (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) and trickled into the goal. EMU regrouped and fired a few shots, but couldn't score.
At 38:02, Randolph-Macon struck again when Amanda Nelms took a pass from Ashley Lambers to the left side and put a shot into the right corner of the goal.
But the Lady Royals came right back and cut the deficit in half just two minutes later.
Valerie Burton (Staunton, Va./Fort Defiance) picked up a ball at midfield and fired a long pass to
Jess Myers (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite). Myers used her speed to dribble past the Yellow Jacket defense, get in close, and punch a shot past keeper Mary Jocelyn to make it 2-1.
EMU used the momentum from that goal to start the second half on a surge. But Jocelyn made one save and the other shots went wide as the Lady Royals continued to look for the equalizer.
Randolph-Macon gained momentum back and after three successive corner kicks finally netted a goal from Megan Calabrese to make it 3-1 at 63:05.
With nine minutes left to play,
Christa Beckler (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) made a great run down the right side. The senior fired a shot which would have beat Randolph-Macon's keeper but it sailed just wide of the goal. Three minutes later, Beckler was at it again, but this time Jocelyn made a save.
The Lady Royals kept pushing, and with two minutes left, Myers again sped through the defense but had a shot blocked by Jocelyn as the game ended in a 3-1 loss.
EMU was outshot 21-13, including 10-7 in shots on goal. The Yellow Jackets had a large edge in corners at 16-3 and also had more fouls at 15-7.
Diffenbach finished with 7 saves in the loss.
The Lady Royals slip to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the ODAC. They next play at Shenandoah on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
