Women’s Soccer Keeps Rolling With Win Over Ursuline

by Abigal Hintz

The Cedarville Lady Jackets kept their winning streak rolling with a 1-0 defeat of Ursuline College on Saturday evening. Creativity was the name of the game that moved the team to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the G-MAC, while also extending their winning streak to three.

Olivia Hoffman was the lone goal scorer, snatching her third goal of the season with a power shot from distance two minutes before the end of the first half.

Cedarville and Ursuline seemed fairly evenly matched early in the game, with the midfield controlling the action, and not much happening in either team’s final third. Both sides were very physical and aggressive, with intensity running high on both sides.

The Arrows tried several times to utilize the left wing, however defender Hannah Whicker shut the forwards down with ease. After several failed attempts by Ursuline down that channel, momentum began to shift Cedarville’s way.

Senior midfielder Creslyn Van Dyck was a strong presence for the Jackets, providing seamless transitions and stellar services over and over again. The midfield as a whole switched the field whenever necessary, leading to open space and several real chances.

Senior forward Alyssa Maillefer was on the receiving end of many of those services, ending the game with six shots – more than double the rest of her team. Ursuline’s goalkeeper, Gina Cerny, had a very busy night with five saves, but 21 shots total to keep her eyes on.

The Arrows’ midfield found their way in a Cedarville controlled area, but the Jackets’ defense wasn’t letting anything into their box. Defender Delight Williams took a beating from the aggressive Ursuline side but held her own and helped immensely in the shutout. They were so disciplined that senior goalkeeper Allison Garlock ended the night with zero saves. Nevertheless, it goes down as her third shutout in a row.

Garlock commented on the achievement after the game, saying, “It feels so good. I didn’t do any of the work though. I’m just so proud of my defense. It just helps to keep things organized so that they don’t even get chances to score.”

Head coach Jonathan Meade was very pleased with the shutout, after mentioning previously that Ursuline would present his team with some new challenges.

“They’ve got some really nice attackers. But defense starts up top, and we scored our goal because of Rose Anthony just playing some really smart defense picking the center back off and playing it in to Olivia Hoffman. Everybody did a really nice job tonight.”

Cedarville now looks to an away game at Tiffin University on Thursday. This will be their second meeting with the Dragons this season, after winning at home 2-1 in the season opener. Coach Meade expects a battle, saying, “We’re going to be at their place, so my expectation is its going to be a very tough match.”

Garlock and the team remain confident and are determined to ride the momentum.

“I just hope that we just put everything together that we’ve been doing in these first few games, and that we can just go out there and get another W,” said Garlock after Saturday’s match.