Gibbons, Russo Lead Royals Past Rams, 3-1, Saturday Evening At Fitzpatrick Field
SCRANTON, Pa.—Junior midfielder Sarah Gibbons (Monroe Township, NJ/Monroe Township) and sophomore forward Samantha Russo (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) each had goal and an assist to lead The University of Scranton women's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Farmingdale State in non-conference action Saturday evening at Fitzpatrick Field.
The Royals also received a goal from sophomore forward Rebecca Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Marymount) and an assist from junior midfielder Sydney Parker (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) to win their third straight match to improve to 6-1-2. Farmingdale State, coached by 1985 Scranton graduate Chris Roche, fell to 8-2-2.
On a cold rainy night, the Royals set the tempo early by jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 24 minutes of play.
Gibbons tallied her fifth goal of the season by heading in a ball served up on a corner kick in the 14th minute by Parker to give Scranton a 1-0 lead. Less than 10 minutes later, Russo crossed a ball from the left sideline that got by a couple of Ram defender to Hextall, who tapped in a shot for her third goal of the season.
Russo then added an insurance goal from 18 yards out on a ball played through the Farmingdale St. defense in the 67th minute by Gibbons to extend the Royals' lead to 3-0.
The Rams avoided the shutout in the 80th minute when junior forward Jamie Smith (Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem East) knocked in a ball off of a scramble in front of the Scranton goal.
Russo and Gibbons now lead the Royals with five goals apiece.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey McAnelly (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) played 74 minutes and made three saves to pick up the win for Scranton, which will return to action this Tuesday, October 4, against Muhlenberg College at Fitzpatrick Field beginning at 7:00 p.m. Senior Amanda Maass (Mastic Beach, NY/William Floyd) and junior Stacey (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetquot) each played 45 minutes in goal for the Rams and were credited with a save apiece.
--ROYALS--
