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BROOKE ATKINS
Staff Writer
While playing two SUNYAC games at home, Fredonia women’s soccer split this past weekend to bring its SUNYAC conference record to 2-4-1.
To open the weekend, the Blue Devils played Friday night against Plattsburgh, which ended in a tough loss with a score of 5-2. With the first goal of the game and her first collegiate goal, freshman Jordan Walts got Fredonia on the board with .36 seconds left in the first half.
Other shots on net were made by junior Kristie Kleine, junior Alexis Moreland and freshman Karly Torppey. With Plattsburgh leading the whole game, Fredonia did fall behind on saves, while the Cardinals only had three. Senior Michelle Hale stepped in as goalie for the Blue Devils with 40 minutes left and made five saves.
“Our effort level this weekend stuck out to me the most because everyone was really giving it their all in order to win,” freshman goalie Kendall Owczarzak. “The whole team needed me to give 110 percent, and I knew how much my teammates needed me to help keep down the score, and we all did it together.”
After a tough game played on Friday, Fredonia stepped back on the field on a cold Saturday to play another SUNYAC game against Potsdam, which resulted in a 3-2 win.
A game-winning hat-trick by Kleine led the Blue Devils to a crucial win while at home. It all started in overtime when sophomore Audrey Yokopovich had a throw-in to Moreland; she carried it down the line, then passed it to Kleine — who was ahead of her — for a shot on net that went in during the 105th minute. Fredonia’s first goal was scored in the 39th minute after the Bears held a 1-0 lead for about three minutes, followed by the second goal scored in the 56th minute, which put Fredonia in the lead for the first time, all game.
Freshman Karly Torppey assisted the goal by delivering a pass to Moreland, who then passed it to Kleine for the goal. With close shots on net, Fredonia had 22 and Potsdam had 23. But Owczarzak was credited with eight saves, while the Bears had none.
“Going into the weekend we knew we had two tough games ahead of us, but we knew we had to go in a fight because the wins were not going to be handed to us,” Yokopovich said about the upcoming games. The cold rainy weather impacted performance negatively.
“After playing a 90-minute game on Friday and another on Saturday, with an additional overtime and the cold, it was tough but we played through it,” said Yokopovich.
The win against the Bears put Fredonia in a tying position with Oswego for sixth place in the conference and for a final playoff spot. The women are on the road this upcoming week playing their last two SUNYAC games of the season; This Friday at 3 p.m. at Oneonta, and Saturday Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. at New Paltz.