Behind a hat trick from senior Taylor Wolf (Townsend, Del./Middletown), the Cedar Crest College soccer team came away with an 5-2 victory over Immaculata University in its season opener on Thursday afternoon at the FalconPlex. The win also marked the first for Head Soccer Coach Jesse Zafiratos at Cedar Crest and the first victory for the Falcons over the Mighty Macs in program history.
"I'm really proud of the way we played today, especially in the final third," Zafiratos said following the triumph. "From start to finish, we dictated how the game was going to go and it feels great to be 1-0."
Graduate student Ashley Whittaker (Huntersville, N.C. /Hopewell ) finished with one goal and two assists while sophomore MacKayla Reed (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area Senior) closed the scoring for the Falcons in the season-opening triumph. Immaculata junior Hannah Phillips (Pottstown, Pa.) and first-year Therese Weis (Carlisle, Pa.) each found the back of the net for the visitors in the loss.
Cedar Crest got on the board in the third minute after first-year Lauren Davis (Oley, Pa./Oley Valley) played a nice ball up the field to graduate student Ashley Whittaker (Huntersville, N.C. /Hopewell ). Whittaker beat her defender in a footrace and found Wolf all alone. Wolf deposited the shot in the back of the net to put the Falcons up, 1-0.
Wolf found herself back in the action for the next goal, which came in the ninth minute. Wolf ended up blocking a goal kick from Mighty Macs' first-year goalkeeper Emily Guthier (Sewell, N.J.) and the ball ended up on Wolf's foot. After one touch on the ball, Wolf took a sliding shot to make it a 2-0 game.
Phillips put Immaculata on the scoreboard in the 36th minute to cut the deficit to one, 2-1.
The Falcons tacked on one more before the end of the half on the tally from Reed in the 42nd minute off a helper from sophomore Kayla Reiter (Fogelsville, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) to give them a two-goal advantage at the break.
Cedar Crest was the first to strike in the second half as Wolf capped her hat trick in the 48th minute. Whittaker was credited with the assist.
The teams traded goals over the remainder of the half. The Mighty Macs made it 4-2 match on marker from Phillips in the 52nd minute while Whittaker helped the Falcons put the game away in the 55th minute with a goal, coming off an assist from Wolf, for the 5-2 final.
Cedar Crest senior goalkeeper Lauren Makely (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem North) made three saves in the game while Guthier finished with five. The Falcons held a 15-11 advantage on shots in the contest.
Cedar Crest (1-0 overall) will remain home for its next contest as it will host Penn State Mont Alto on Saturday, September 3 at 3:30 p.m. Immaculata (0-1) will stay on the road for a non-conference tilt at Cairn University on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
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