ERIE, Pa. - The No. 24 Gannon women's soccer team earned a 2-1 win over the visiting Clarion Golden Eagles on Senior Day at Gannon University Field on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore
Mani Brueckner (Valencia, Pa. / Mars Area) scored a late tally in the final five minutes of play off a corner kick to snap a two-game skid for the Lady Knights. The Lady Knights improved to 9-5-1 overall and 9-4-1 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action with the Golden Eagles falling to 4-8-3 on the season and 3-8-3 in the conference.
Prior to the match, head coach
Colin Petersen and the Lady Knights honored five seniors in celebration of Senior Day. The seniors included
Sarah Geffel (Apollo, Pa. / Kiski Area),
Maddi Buckham (Copley, Ohio / Copley),
Anna Colaizzo (Erie, Pa. / McDowell),
Erin Resosky (Mars, Pa. / Mars Area) and
Annie Walbridge (Erie, Pa. / McDowell).
On Senior Day, it would be Brueckner leading the way for the Lady Knights. Brueckner scored each of the Lady Knights goals off a career game-high 10 shots. The sophomore capitalized on each of her shots on goal. Geffel earned her ninth win of the season with three saves to move into the all-time top-five list in school history with 100 saves.
After an active first 12 minutes of the game saw the two teams tied at 1-1, neither were able to connect on opportunities in next 70 minutes of action. The Lady Knights dominated offensive chances throughout the contest to finish with a 24-8 shot advantage over the Golden Eagles.
In the 86th minute of play, the Lady Knights successfully converted on one of their total three corner kicks. With Brueckner lined up from the left corner, the sophomore bent her shot into right-upper ninety of the goal for her second tally of the day and ninth of the season.
The Lady Knights struck in the fifth minute on a penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead. Riding the left sideline, Brueckner fed a pass to the front of the net with a Gannon forward being tackled from behind in the box for the awarded penalty kick. The sophomore buried the opportunity to the right-center with Clarion goalkeeper Laura Saussol diving to the left. Brueckner is now 2-for-2 in career penalty kicks with her last coming in a 1-0 win over visiting Indiana (Pa.) on Oct. 6, 2012.
The Golden Eagles' lone tally was scored in the 12th minute on an individual effort by Nikita Bonnell, working her way around the Lady Knights' defender. Bonnell snuck the shot under the crossbar to tie the match at 1-1.
No. 24 Gannon will host Kutztown in the home regular-season finale on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m.
