The University of Scranton women’s soccer team reached an impressive milestone with a 2-0 victory over Penn State-Berks on Wednesday night at rainy Fitzpatrick Field.

The Royals earned the 400th victory in program history, giving them an overall record of 400-194-52 in the program’s 32-year history. That’s an impressive average of 12.5 victories per season.

Scranton (7-6-1) jumped ahead in the 33rd minute when sophomore forward Kelsey Bacon (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) outraced a defender to a long pass by freshman defender Katie Cullen (Malvern, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) and beat the Nittany Lions’ goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.

The goal was Bacon’s fourth of the season and 14th of her career while Cullen picked up her first career assist.

After fending off some solid pressure by Penn State-Berks in the second half, Scranton put the game way when junior forward Gianna Vitolo (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) collected a loose ball to the left of the goal and drilled a shot from 12 yards out that beat the goalie, deflected off a defender and went into the middle of the goal for a 2-0 lead. It was Vitolo’s third goal of the season and 12th of her career.

Scranton held a 17-8 lead in shots, including 8-1 in the first half. Six different Royals had two shots in the victory. Scranton also had seven corner kicks to just one for Penn State-Berks, which suffered just its second loss of the season, falling to 13-2 overall.

Sophomore goalkeeper Krissy Welsh (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) made four second-half saves in the victory for Scranton.

The Royals return to action on Saturday, Oct. 29, when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa. to take on Moravian in a Landmark Conference match at 1 p.m.

--ROYALS--