Aug. 22, 2014

Box Score

WASHINGTON – Six different players scored as the George Washington women’s soccer team earned a convincing 6-0 season opening win over Mount St. Mary’s on Friday evening at the GW Soccer Field on the Mount Vernon Campus.

Juniors Kyla Ridley and Kristi Abbate, sophomore MacKenzie Cowley, senior Meg Murphy, rookie Brittany Cooper and redshirt freshman Camille Roberts all found the back of the net as the Colonials (1-0) tallied the most goals in their season opener since 1987. Abbate led GW on the afternoon with a goal and an assist for three points.

GW was sharp on both sides of the field as it outshot Mount St. Mary’s (0-1), 27-5, for the match and limited the visitors to just one attempt in the second half. The Colonials also held a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Making her career debut between the posts, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Miranda Horn made three saves in 60:35 of work while junior transferEllen Conway set aside one shot in her first career performance for the Buff and Blue.

GW dominated offensively from the get-go as Ridley took the first two shots of the match, connecting on her second at the 6:07 mark to put the squad up, 1-0.  Abbate sent a through ball up the middle and Ridley dodged a defender and buried a shot in the lower right corner of the net. Abbate scored a goal of her own 21:44 later after collecting a pass from redshirt junior Nicole Belfonti inside of the box and sending the ball to the right side of the goal.

Cowley scored the final goal of the frame less than two minutes later on an unassisted tally. She fought for the ball front and center of the goal, turned around and fired to the right side to send GW into halftime with a 3-0 lead.

The Colonials held a 14-4 lead in shots and 3-2 margin in corners over The Mount at the break. 

A little less than 20 minutes into the second half, freshman Annika Johnson recorded her first career point on an assist when she sent a perfectly placed cross from the left side of the field into the box where Murphy headed the ball into the left side of the goal for a 4-0 score. GW extended its lead to 5-0 at 39:02 when senior Sydney Morris sent a pass from the right side to Cooper, who found her way around Mount St. Mary’s keeper Rachel Bourne for her first goal in Buff and Blue.

Redshirt freshman Camille Roberts netted her first goal with 3:48 remaining in action when she collected a loose ball inside the box and pushed it into the bottom left corner of the net.

The Colonials forced The Mount goalkeepers Bourne and Vicky Cocozza to combine for six saves as they put 12 shots on goal on the afternoon.

GW looks to carry its momentum into Sunday when it welcomes Old Dominion to the GW Soccer Field. Kick-off is slated for 12 p.m.