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Women's Soccer Earns First Win of the Season over St. Francis (IL)
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UPLAND, Ind. - The women's soccer team won in unique fashion on Saturday, taking down St. Francis (IL), 4-3, to move the Trojans to 1-1 on the year.
"Once again we continued to work hard and create opportunities," said head coach Scott Stan after the win. "Because we're rotating so many people, there's still a couple defensive things that we need to work out, but I think once we get those issues situated, we'll be fine going forward."
After failing to score in the season opener, TU found themselves on the scoreboard early in the game against the Fighting Saints. After a St. Francis foul inside the box 19 minutes in, the Trojans were awarded a penalty kick, which junior Shelbi Lowe placed just inside the left post to give Taylor the early 1-0 advantage.
Lowe's goal would be the first of three total goals over the next seven minutes. Just four minutes later, St. Francis' Alex Truhlar placed a corner kick five feet in front of the goal, allowing the Fighting Saints' Hannah Yackley to head it in and tie the game up at 1-1.
After the Yackley goal, TU wasted no time regaining the lead. Less than three minutes later, St. Francis committed another penalty inside the box, awarding Taylor yet another penalty kick. This time sophomore Hadlee Yescott was given the honors to take it and easily found the right side of the goal to push the Trojans back up at 2-1 before the half.
Coming out of the half the Trojans continued on the offensive attack, which provided the purple and gold with another goal in the 57th minute. Sophomore Nikki Zaino's open shot from just inside the box found its way underneath the diving St. Francis goalie, Jessica Kiely, but was just a little off track. Fortunately, freshman Maddi Guillaume positioned herself perfectly and was able to redirect the ball into the net before it went out-of-bounds, scoring her first career goal at TU and giving the Trojans a 3-1 lead.
Holding to a 3-1 lead and with time ticking down, it appeared Taylor would manage to hold on for the win. Taylor played more defensively with the lead, but the Fighting Saints managed to pull themselves back into the game quickly. With 20 minutes remaining in the game, St. Francis scored two goals in two minutes to tie the game back up at 3-3 and set the stage for a wild finish.
During a TU offensive attack, St. Francis goalie, Kiely, charged the approaching ball which was about to enter the top of the box. As she approached the ball, a swarm of players from both teams formed as they all raced for the ball. Kiely managed to reach it first and attempted to clear it as it was rolling, but the ball was sent directly at the pack of players less than five yards in front of her. The ball ricocheted of her own player and rolled backwards for an own goal. The goal proved to be the game-winner, as it put Taylor up 4-3 with 13 minutes remaining.
Taylor received contributions all around in the win. Lowe led the team with two shot attempts, followed by eight other Trojans who all had one shot attempt. In her first career start, junior Anna Miller finished the game with a career-high eight saves. The keeper also picked up her first career win in net.
Taylor will have almost a week off before its next game when the team plays host to Roosevelt on Friday, September 4 inside Turner Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.