ST. MARY'S COUNTY, Md. – The Blazers stunned the Seahawks early with a goal to close the first half with some offensive movement, but St. Mary's College of Maryland roughed their way to two late goals to take down the women's soccer team 2-1 on Tuesday night in the season opener on the road.
Inside the Box Score
Anais Esparza (Gilbert, Ariz./Casteel) scored her first collegiate goal in the final minutes of the first half.
Leah Cook (Brunswick, Md./Brunswick) and
Dani Farias (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) took shots at the net tonight.
Marlie DeRenzis (Scranton, Pa./North Pocono) made four saves in her collegiate debut.
How it Happened
With nine minutes left in the half and a throw in for the Blazers, an attacker received it and sent the ball for a one-on-one foot race towards the SMCM goal. Esparza outpaced the last defender and took a stutter step to finesse the Blazer's first goal of the season past a diving keeper in close quarters.
It would take until the 64
th minute for the equalizer, a SMCM corner landed in a sea of bodies in front of goal and a header found the underneath of the crossbar.
The corner would be critical again with eight minutes to go, a failed attempt was kicked back out to a Seahawk attacker who fed the box to a crashing teammate to finish the attempt and break the draw.
Notes
The Seahawks outshot the Blazers 5-1 in the second half.
Up Next
The squad will host Bryn Mawr for their home opener this Saturday, September 5 with kickoff set for 2 p.m..
