Aug. 29, 2014

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. - The George Washington women's soccer team scored three second-half goals to rout Loyola (Md.), 3-0, on Friday night at the Ridley Athletic Complex to claim its first road win of the 2014 season.

With their third consecutive shutout victory to open the year, the Colonials matched their best start since 2007. GW saw goals from senior Meg Murphy, redshirt junior Nicole Belfonti and junior Kristi Abbate on Friday evening while redshirt freshman goalkeeper Miranda Horn set aside three shots between the posts for her third win of the young season.

The Buff and Blue held a 10-8 shot advantage over Loyola (1-2) for the match, and after being outshot, 2-6, in the first half, GW powered back offensively for an 8-2 advantage in the second frame.

Murphy struck first the for the Colonials at the 57:22 mark when rookie Ingrid Di Clemente sent a pass up the right side to sophomore MacKenzie Cowley, who redirected the ball inside to Murphy, and Murphy ricocheted a shot off of the left post to put GW up, 1-0.

Belfonti found the back of the net less than 10 minutes later on an unassisted tally when she dribbled to the left side of the box and fired a cross into the right side of the net. Abbate scored the final goal of the match at 78:26 after she settled a through ball from freshman Brittany Cooper and took advantage of a 1-on-1 opportunity with Loyola goalkeeper Colleen Folan.

GW returns home on Sunday, Aug. 31 to host William & Mary. Kickoff at the GW Soccer Field on the Mount Vernon Campus is slated for 5 p.m.