Houghton, NY – The Houghton College Women's Soccer team dropped their season opener, 2-1, against the St. John Fisher Cardinals on Sunday afternoon.
The Highlanders began the game on the attack by recording the first two shots of the game, but at the 11-minute mark St. John Fisher's Carli Kavorik's goal gave the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead which they would carry forward into halftime.
In the second half, the Highlanders were able to respond in the 59
th minute thanks to
Sarah Potocki's first goal of the year. Potocki's goal was assisted by
Mikayla Simons and
Anna Kalivoda.
The score remained deadlocked until late in the second half when the Cardinals made a push up the right side before centering the ball for Kayla Rhude to drill a shot into the top right corner of the Highlander net bringing the game to a 2-1 score with just 1:40 left on the clock.
GAME VITALS
Score: Houghton – 1 | St. John Fisher - 2
Records: Houghton: 0-1-0 | St. John Fisher: 1-0-0
Venue: Burke Field | Attendance: 0
SCORING SUMMARY
NOTABLE STATS
>> The Cardinals bested the Highlanders in the shot column 14-12.
>> Potocki's Goal was her 3
rd career goal as a Highlander.
>> Houghton had chances on two shots each from
Moriah Steffen,
Sarah Potocki,
Kealy DeForest,
Sierra Dibble, and
Anna Kalivoda.
>> Houghton Keeper,
Megan Merrifield, registered 5 saves on the day while surrendering two goals.
COACH'S CORNER
"Overall, I am encouraged by the product that we produced on the pitch for our first time playing outside of practice since November of 2019. Needless to say, it was not the result we were hoping for, but there were many moments to be celebrated. The build up to our goal was one of the those moments. We worked the ball sideline to sideline to get a dangerous opportunity and capitalized on it. We have things to build and improve on from here, as always, so back to work we go." -Coach
Nikki Elsaesser
UP NEXT
The Highlanders will host Nazareth College on Wednesday, March 17th. Kickoff is set for 5:00 PM at Burke Field.
