Lafayette Hill, Pa. - Antonia Linus' goal in the 83rd minute helped push Chestnut Hill College past St. Thomas Aquinas College, 2-1, in women's soccer action on Tuesday evening at Victory Field.
STAC slips to 0-2 on the season, while Chestnut Hill opens its 2023 season with a win.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 24th minute, when the Griffins stopped an offensive rush by the Spartans and turned back down field, sending a through ball up the middle of the pitch, finding Elisabeth Stokes one on one with keeper Catalena Robson. Despite two STAC defenders racing back to catch up with Stokes, she was able to dance around Robson and send a soft shot to the back of the net to make it 1-0.
Chestnut Hill held onto the slim one-goal margin at halftime and also outshot St. Thomas Aquinas 7-4.
When the teams returned for second half action, the Spartans and Griffins traded a three shots apiece each over the first 22 minutes of the stanza. However, in the 68th minute, a free kick off of a Chestnut Hill foul was sent down the right sideline by Nicole Savage to teammate Jasmine Blue. After taking the ball around a defender, Blue sent a cross-field pass to the left post, finding Ella Connolly for the deflection goal to tie the game at 1-1.
The game deciding goal would come with just under eight minutes to play in the match, as off of a free kick of their own, Chestnut Hill's Virginia Perry would find Alyssa DeGeorge cutting up the left side with a long boot from midfield. DeGeorge would settle the ball and send a cross-field pass to a wide open Antonia Linus who fired a shot into a wide open net, beating Spartans keeper Haley Liss to make it 2-1 Griffins.
No further scoring opportunities would occur for either side and time would expire to give Chestnut Hill the victory.
Inside the Box Score
- Chestnut Hill outshot STAC 14-9 for the match.
- Ella Connolly tallied her first goal of the season for the Spartans.
- Connolly and teammate Jasmine Blue each recorded two shots.
- Heidi Torre, Sarai Rodriguez, Jo Porter, Sophie Stanley and Ellie Croshaw also registered a shot apiece.
- The Spartans and Griffins earned three corner kicks apiece on the day.
- Catalena Robson got the start in goal for STAC and stopped three of four shots faced, before being replaced by Haley Liss (L, 0-1) who made four stops on five shots in the second half.
St. Thomas Aquinas opens the home portion of its schedule, facing Bloomfield College of Montclair State University on Saturday, September 9. Kickoff between the Spartans and Bears is set for Noon at Spartan Field in Sparkill.