Syracuse, N.Y. - The Le Moyne College women's soccer team were defeated in its first conference game of the season against the Mercyhurst Lakers.
The Dolphins made two changes to their starting lineup against Canisius, that saw freshman goalkeeper
Mikayla McPheron (Rome, N.Y./Rome Free Academy) and fifth year
Jenicah Brown (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland/Cazenovia) make their return to the first team.
It took Mercyhurst just 17 seconds to get their first goal of the game scored by senior Karah Van Horn and assisted by graduate student Emily Mijares and senior Teagan Mehalko. The Dolphins came back on the attack quickly, looking to get back into the game as sophomore midfielder
Giovanna Vigliotti (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee) had the first shot of the game for the 'Phins.
Le Moyne added three more shots over the following three minutes of play, first by freshman forward
Nicole Calle (Providence, R.I./Cumberland), the second by sophomore midfielder
Kyla Sustad (Willet, N.Y./Cincinnatus/Merrimack), and the third by Brown which was saved by graduate student goalkeeper Chelsea Radicia.
Junior forward
Courtney Felton (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield/Roberts Wesleyan) registered a shot in the 12
th minute that resulted in another save from Radicia. Le Moyne continued to create chances, firing shot after shot but were unable to find the back of the net.
McPheron made her first save of the game in the 34
th minute, and added a second just a few minutes later to keep the Dolphins in the game. Le Moyne made three substitutions that saw freshman forward
Alivia Day (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta), senior defender
Katelyn Courcy (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) and sophomore defender
Maria Komala (Warsaw, Poland/Notre Dame College). Redshirt freshman
Logan Cookinham (Poland, N.Y./Poland) entered the contest five minutes before the end of the 1
st half. Neither team created anymore chances as the teams entered halftime with the score 1-0 in favor of the Lakers.
The Dolphins looked to start the 2
nd half strong, as Calle registered the first shot of the half just three minutes into the action. Junior midfielder
Lindsey LeBlanc (Westminister, Mass./St. Bernard's), senior midfielder
Danielle Casey (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) and Calle each had a shot over the next few minutes of play, but the 'Phins still could not find the back of the net.
The Lakers earned a penalty kick in the 57
th minute of the game that was put away by graduate student midfielder/forward Emily Mijares to put Mercyhurst up 2-0. Freshman defender
Mallory Pietrzak (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) entered the game for the first time in the 62
nd minute looking to provide a spark for the 'Phins.
Mercyhurst eventually added its third goal of the contest in the 73
rd minute as Van Horn netted her second goal of the game from an assist by graduate student midfielder Chloe Kalina.
Le Moyne would find the goal they were looking for in the 85th minute of the game. Casey collected the ball on the right wing, dribbled past the outside back of the Lakers and played a cross into the box met by Calle, taking a few touches before rifling the ball into the top corner of the net to cut the deficit to two.
The game came to a close as Mercyhurst picked up its first win of the season against the Dolphins. Le Moyne created the most chances in a single game this season with 20 shots.
Le Moyne will be back in action on Thursday as the Dolphins travel to Washington, D.C. to take on Howard University. Kickoff is scheduled to begin at 1:00 P.M.
