FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Women's Soccer team picked up a 2-0 home victory over West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday evening.
Prior to the match, FSU honored its four seniors in Madison Hinton, Chelsea Pettyjohn, Mia Graff, and Ella Combs, as well as junior Ainsley Wilson, who will be earning her undergraduate degree in just three years, as each round out their careers.
Within the first minute of play, the ball was worked wide to Wilson, who sent a cross into the box that was cleared right to junior Rayiah Davis, who took a touch to settle herself and fired past keeper Reyna Dalton for a 1-0 lead. WVWC quickly recovered and tried to apply some pressure, forcing a giveaway and sending a ball into the box that was gathered by Graff.
Five minutes later, Hinton tried her luck from distance but put her effort wide of the mark. The sides were locked in defensively for the next 13 minutes before each team created some chances. A free kick from the right wing was sent in by Hinton and shouldered towards goal by junior Mollie Rebuck, with Dalton diving to make the save. At the other end, Graff did well to get to a volley off the boot of Sydne Alexander to keep Frostburg in the lead.
Midway through the half, FSU began to gain the upper hand, as Davis had a long effort go right at Dalton, then junior Cassidy Paige had a cross-turned-shot saved at the near post. Paige had another great chance to score four minutes later, as Davis played a perfectly-weighted ball to run onto, however Dalton was quick out of her goal to put the shot behind for a corner.
Wesleyan ramped up their pressure in the final 10 minutes, testing Graff on four occasions, however each of them were straight at her. As the half came to a close, junior Elena Fernandez had the final effort on a volley that went well over the bar, keeping the score at 1-0.
WVWC looked for a quick equalizer coming out of the break, earning an early corner from which FSU's defense blocked three shots before the fourth went high and wide. At the other end, Paige played a nice one-two with freshman Kelly Dougherty on an overlapping run, however the shot went wide of the mark. Seven minutes later, Dougherty had a left-footed effort go right at Dalton as FSU pushed for a second.
Their efforts paid off just under 20 minutes into the half, as a free kick gave Hinton a chance to whip a ball in, as Dalton missed it and a deflection fell right into the path of Paige for an easy tap-in and a two-goal cushion. Looking for a way back into the game, Wesleyan sent a free kick from the right wing that was met by Mia Rodriguez but she couldn't get her point-blank header on target.
12 minutes went by before either side had another clear opportunity, as Rebuck gathered the ball at the edge of the box, cutting inside on her right foot and hitting just the wrong side of the post with Dalton having been beat by the shot. Rebuck then tried a left-footed effort from outside the 18 that was too close to Dalton in searching for a third.
As the clock wound down, sophomore Abbey Robrecht sent a corner in that looked to be heading towards goal and was palmed away by Dalton. WVWC then had one more chance at a consolation goal, as Kierra Hoiler blasted a long free kick that clipped the top of the crossbar and over, as Graff held onto her clean sheet at the 2-0 win.
With the victory, Frostburg improves to 8-2-1 on the year, while WV Wesleyan drops to 4-5-2. FSU will remain at home as they next face West Virginia State on Wednesday, October 7 at 6 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.
