ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon women's soccer team opened the season at home with a 4-1 victory over Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opponent Bloomsburg on Thursday afternoon at Gannon University Field. With all five goals scored in the first half, the Lady Knights scored three unanswered goals to seal the win over the visiting Huskies. Gannon moves to 1-0-0 overall and 1-0-0 in conference action, while Bloomsburg falls to 0-1-0 and 0-1-0 in the PSAC.
The Lady Knights were led by junior
Michelle Genetin (Navarre, Ohio/Perry) with two goals and sophomore
Mani Brueckner (Valencia, Pa./Mars Area) with a pair of assists. Genetin's two goals tied career-highs in both points and goals with Brueckner tying a career-high in assists. Senior goalkeeper
Sarah Geffel (Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area) secured her eighth career win, recording seven saves on the day.
Genetin gave Gannon a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute of play on a solo effort. The junior walked through the Bloomsburg defense before pulling off a shot from 10 yards out.
Bloomsburg struck 10 minutes later to the contest at 1-1 with an unassisted tally by All-PSAC selection Tara Huber.
From that point on, the Lady Knights controlled the contest with three unanswered goals. Two of the tallies came on headers off perfectly executed corner kicks by Brueckner.
With Brueckner lined up to take the corner kick, the reigning PSAC Freshman of the Year dropped the ball into the middle of a crowd. Sophomore
Amanda Gallant (Brampton, Ontario/Cardinal Leger SS) emerged with a header to score her first of the season to give Gannon a 2-1 lead in the 33rd minute.
Only 22 seconds later, sophomore
Ally Sharpe (Holley, N.Y./Brockport) scored her first career goal as a Lady Knight to extend Gannon's lead to 3-1.
Gannon closed out the day's scoring in the 43rd minute with another opportunity off a corner kick by Brueckner. This time it was Brueckner connecting with Genetin for her second goal of the day and 13th of her career.
The Lady Knights held an advantage over the Huskies in both shots (15-9) and corner kicks (9-2).
Freshman
Kaylee Lewis (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) made her first collegiate start for the Lady Knights. In addition, freshmen
Ashley Mozingo (Fallston, Md. / Fallston) and
Allana Bell (Waterville, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) made their collegiate debuts.
After opening the season at home, Gannon will hit the road for its next four contests. The first stop for the Lady Knights will be on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Lock Haven with the kickoff set for 6 p.m.
