The Basics
Score: Saginaw Valley 3, Lewis 2
Records: SVSU (2-0-0) | Lewis (1-1-0)
Location: Braddock Field - University Center, Mich.
UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The SVSU women's soccer team made it two straight victories to open the 2016 season after posting a 3-2 win over the Lewis University Flyers on Saturday (Sep. 3) afternoon at SVSU's Braddock Field.
The Cardinals got out to a 2-0 lead and carried a 2-1 edge into the halftime break after a late goal from the Flyers. After Lewis knotted the score up early in the second period at 2-2, SV added a third score at the 74:21 mark for the 3-2 lead. That's where the score would stand, as Saginaw Valley sealed the victory to remain unbeaten on the young season.
Saginaw Valley got on the board first at the 31:42 point when Valentina Giambanco scored her first career goal after assists from Hannah Tarnaski and Sakura Bals to make the score 1-0.
Just over five minutes later at the 36:46 marker, Molly Vanderhoff got into the action with her first career goal, pushing the lead out to 2-0.
Lewis's Jessica Chavez cut the deficit to 2-1 with under three minutes to play in the opening period after finding the back of the net. Her teammate, Payton Emond, added another goal for the Flyers at the 52:18 point early in the second to tie the game at 2-2.
Giambanco would be set-up again by Bals at the 74:21 mark, putting one past the Flyer goalkeeper to make the score 3-2. That would be good enough for the one goal victory for the Cardinals.
Inside the Boxscore
- Giambanco's two goals were the first of her young career for SV, including the game-winner.
- Bals had the first two assists of her career as well.
- Tarnaski was also credited with her first career helper in the victory.
- Vanderhoff's first career goal is in addition to her first-ever assist in Thursday's win over Cedarville.
- The Cards held an 8-1 edge in shots for the first period and 9-4 overall in the match.
- Claire Spleth moved to 2-0-0 between the posts for the season, making two saves.
From Head Coach Michael O'Neill
"Another great team effort today to get the win. The girls stuck to the game plan and started with great energy and focus. Substitutes were able to maintain that and add a couple goals in the process, which was nice to see. We showed some naivety with how we finished the first half and they were able to get back in the game. The second half became very stretched, as they were pushing for the second goal. At 2-2, we looked like the dominant team and some individual brilliance from Valentina got us the all-important winning goal. We are taking a lot of positives from the weekend but know there is still a lot of work to do. We will recover and re-group for U-Indy on Tuesday."
Up Next...
Saginaw Valley returns to action on Tuesday (Sep. 6) in another non-conference match, as the Cardinals host the University of Indianapolis in a 2:00 p.m. contest.