Sarah Fails was the leading returning scorer for Gannon from 2021.
2
Gannon GAN (0-1-0, 0-0-0)
3
Winner Concord CON (2-0-0, 0-0-0)
Gannon GAN
(0-1-0, 0-0-0)
2
Final
3
Concord CON
(2-0-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Gannon GAN 1 1 2
Concord CON 2 1 3

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | Jeff Kirik, Assistant Director of Athletics for Media Relations

Gannon women's soccer team rallies to tie game, then falls to No. 12 Concord

Golden Knights come back from 2-goal deficit to tie score before losing 3-2 on late goal

Beckley, WV -- The Gannon University women's soccer team took the No. 12 team in NCAA Division II to the limit Thursday afternoon before falling 3-2 to Concord University in the season opener.

The Golden Knights rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to tie the game at YMCA Paul Cline Complex, but the Mountain Lions scored with 5:22 remaining to take the win. Concord entered the season as the No. 12 team in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. The Mountain Lions finished 2021 with a 20-1-3 record after advancing to the NCAA Division Elite Eight.

Sarah Fails (Girard, Pa./Villa Maria) and Logan Nicklas (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) scored for Gannon, which recovered after Concord's two-goal outburst during the first 10 minutes. 

Gannon's sluggish start might have been in part attributed to the team's late arrival to the field. The start of the game was delayed for about an hour when the West Virginia Turnpike was closed due to a chemical spill after a tractor trailer overturned. The Gannon bus, along with other traffic, had to be rerouted from the highway, and the Golden Knights spent an extended time en route to the venue.

Concord's Michelle Brogden opened the scoring with a goal at the 3:35 mark an on assist from Rachel Bell. Jayme Millard then scored at the 9:21 mark to give the Mountain Lions a quick 2-0 lead.

Rather than being stunned by the early deficit, Gannon quickly struck back as Sarah Fails (Girard, Pa./Villa Maria) hit the upper left side of the net on a shot from up close at the 10:46 mark. 

The Gannon defense held Concord scoreless for about 75 minutes as the Knights kept the offensive pressure on the Lions. Finally, at the 80-minute mark, Fails broke free down the left side of the box and drilled a shot across the goal. Goalie Leah Marsh made a diving save, but the ball squirted free and Gannon's Nicklas was there to punch in the tying goal on the right side at 80:13. 

About 4 minutes later, Concord moved the ball into left side of the box, and Leah Fleming lifted a shot over goalie Kennedy Solymosi's (Eastlake, Ohio/Lake Catholic) outstretched arms to the upper left corner of the net to make it 3-2.

Concord outshot Gannon 14-10, including 8-4 in the second half. Fails had half of Gannon's six shots on goal. Nicklas, Sammie Dales (Conneautville, Pa./Homeschool) and Gabby Boden (Butler, Pa./Butler) also had shots on goal. Solymosi made six saves in goal for Gannon.

The Golden Knights will return to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when they visit another West Virginia team, Charleston.

 
 
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