COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Junior
Taylor Pezulich and first-year
Alexis Whaley combined to score four goals to lead the Ursinus women's soccer team to a 5-0 shutout victory over Gwynedd Mercy University on Tuesday evening at Patterson Field.
With the victory, Ursinus improves to 2-1 on the season behind their second consecutive shutout performance. The Griffins fall to 2-1 overall and will compete against Penn State Brandywine on Saturday at noon.
Pezulich led the Bears' offense, totaling a career-high six points behind two goals and two assists. She recorded her third career multi-goal performance after scoring twice in the Bears' victories over Immaculata and Bryn Mawr last season. Whaley tallied her first career multi-goal game, while senior
Sophia Cooper added a goal for the Bears. Seniors
Maddie Jolie and
Gwyn Krystkiewicz, junior
Kaleigh Evans, and sophomore
Fiona Sanders each posted assists for the Bears.
The Bears' offense jumped out to a quick start, tallying a pair of goals within the first eight minutes to grab an early 2-0 lead. On the first goal, Sanders corralled a loose ball around midfield and found Pezulich threatening the Griffins' back line. Pezulich then found Cooper with space in front of the Griffins' netminder, and Cooper converted for her first goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, Jolie sent a long through ball past the Griffins' defense, finding Whaley, whose right-footed shot found the back of the net to give Ursinus a 2-0 lead.
The Bears stretched their lead to three at the 23:05-mark when Evans assisted Pezulich for her first goal of the game. During the scoring chance, sophomore
Cora Kim played a pass to Evans, who created space between a defender and found Pezulich on the opposite end of the box for a one-timer to give Ursinus a 3-0 lead. The Bears recorded three more shots over the remainder of the first half and carried a three-goal lead into the halftime break.
Ursinus carried the momentum into the second half as Whaley connected on her second goal off an assist from Pezulich to push the Bears' lead to four. After the Bears intercepted a pass around midfield, Pezulich played a pass into the box for Whaley, who connected on a one-timer for her second career goal. The Bears' final tally came in the 69th minute when Krystkiewicz assisted Pezulich for her second goal of the game to complete the 5-0 shutout victory.
The Bears held a 26-1 advantage in shots and a 7-1 lead in corner-kick opportunities. Junior netminder
Mallory Toomey earned the victory in goal without facing a shot on goal over 36 minutes of action. First-year goalie
Lexie Albaeck made her second appearance of the season, while senior
Alyssa Marraffino and first-year
Vic Hiotis each made their season debuts. Gwynedd Mercy's Zoe Davis suffered the loss after making 10 saves for the Griffins.
The Bears return to action Saturday, September 12th, when they compete at the Drew Fall Festival against Alvernia University at 1 p.m.
