VWC shuts down St. Benedict to improve to 2-0
VIRGINIA BEACH -- Jessica Edelman's goal for Virginia Wesleyan College in the 13th minute of Sunday's game against the College of St. Benedict gave the host Marlins the kind of start head coach Jeff Bowers wanted to see.
In fact, he saw more of it second later when Bre Ingargiola (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) fired a shot off the right post and into the goal to give Virginia Wesleyan a 2-0 start. The Marlins rode the momentum the rest of the way on Foster Field at the Trinder Center to post a 3-0 victory over the team from Minnesota. Edelman (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) scored the first and third goals for the Marlins and contributed to the second.
Virginia Wesleyan (2-0) dominated most of the game, giving up very little to the Blazers, who entered the game off Saturday's thrilling 3-2 win over Christopher Newport University. The Blazers (1-1), who returned all but two players from last year's team that finished 11-7-1 overall and third in the tough Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, picked up the pace for several minutes in the early minutes of the second half against VWC, but could not break the Marlin defense.
That was pretty much the story in the first half as well as St. Benedict was limited to a pair of shots in each half. Seniors Kristyn Anselmo (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon), Kim McKinney (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright), and Hanna Winkel (Lebanon, Mo./Lebanon), and junior Krista Witmer (Lancaster, Pa./Millersville), sparked the early VWC defensive effort from the back, thwarting the few time the Blazers moved the ball deep.
While the defense put the stops on the Blazers, the Marlins started to go when Edelman scored from about 10 yards out. She put the ball into the leff side off a pass from the right from sophomore Angel Horowitz (Bushkill, Pa./East Stroudsburg North). Sixty-nine seconds later it was a 2-0 VWC lead as Ingargiola scored off a pass from Edelman.
VWC pressured the Blazers throughout the half, helped down the sides by the speed of Marta Deptula (Haskell, N.J./Paramus Catholic) and Sara Nickle (Pennsville, N.J./Memorial), a pair of rookies. In fact, the duo combined for a near goal with 9:10 remaining in the half, but Nickle's pass to Deptula resulted in a shot that missed on the left side.
Christina Fernandes (Tinton Falls, N.J./Tinton Falls) came on strong to spark the Marlins' offensively in the second half, with contributions from rookie Kristen Mack (Branchburg, N.J./Somerville), Nickle, and Ingargiola. Sophomore Nicole Martinez (Fredericksburg, Va./Chancellor) emerged among the defensive leaders for VWC throughout the game.
Virginia Wesleyan finished with a 12-4 advantage in shots and a 4-2 edge in corner kicks. Sophomore Erica Keil (Wayne, N.J./DePaul Catholic) worked 71 minutes in the goal and had one save, before senior Bethany Bayles (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) finished and also recorded a save.
Claire O'Brien (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) produced one save for St. Benedict in the first half. Megan Favorite (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) took over for the second half and came up with three saves against seven VWC shots.
Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Wednesday, Sept. 7, hosting Hampton Roads rival Christopher Newport University (1-1) at 7 p.m.
--AMDG--
