Katie Weldon stonewall in net with eight saves
RINDGE, N.H. (October 8, 2013) – Freshman forward
Madison Finlay (Plymouth, Mass.) booted in a pair
of second-half goals on Tuesday afternoon to lead the Franklin
Pierce University women's soccer team to a 2-0 win over Saint
Michael's on Sodexo Field in Rindge.
The win snapped Franklin
Pierce's four-match winless streak, as the Ravens evened
their record at 4-4-2 overall and 3-3-2 in the Northeast-10. St.
Mike's fell to 0-10 and 0-7 in league play.
Finlay's two markers gave her
three for the season, which is tied with classmate Nicole
Chaet (Tewksbury, Mass.) for the team lead. Finlay also
took over the team lead in points with eight.
She scored her first goal four
minutes into the second stanza to break the scoreless tie, as she
placed a shot to the lower left corner of the net from the center
of the box. The shot slipped by Purple Knights keeper Kaylee Smith,
who made a valiant diving attempt to her right to stop the shot,
but could not come up with the save. Finlay was helped on the play
by sophomore forward Hannah Weagle (Ipswich,
Mass.), who logged an assist on the play for dribbling
into the box and sliding a nifty pass over to Finlay for the
marker.
St. Mike's didn't fold
from the adversity and went right back at the Ravens trying to knot
the score. However, sophomore keeper Katie Weldon
(Manchester, N.H.) stood tall in goal for the Ravens as
she turned aside several shots over the ensuing 20 minutes to keep
it at 1-0.
That outstanding string of play was
part of an eight-save effort by Weldon, who ultimately improved to
4-4-2 on the year, and has not allowed a regulation goal in four of
the last five matches.
Finlay gave the Ravens some
breathing room in the 75th minute when she collected a
loose ball off a scramble in front of the goal and fired a shot to
the same corner of the net as her first one.
Both teams finished with 11 shots
for the match. Weagle fired off a match-high four, while
Finlay's two goals came on her only two attempts of the
contest. Four Purple Knights logged two shots apiece in the
setback.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Saturday when the Ravens travel to face New Haven at 1 p.m.
For more information on Franklin
Pierce women's soccer, please visit the team's page at
http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow
the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on
YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports),
Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics)
and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens).
Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce women's soccer
apparel can do so on the athletic department's online store
at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)
