Hannah Larkin scored the only goal as the Misericordia women's soccer team defeated Hamilton, 1-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Saturday in Geneseo, NY. The Cougars will face SUNY-Geneseo, an OT winner over Penn State-Berks, Sunday at 1:00.
Larkin scored the lone goal just four minutes into the contest and
Alyssa Pojero made five saves in net for the Cougars.
Misericordia had a 15-8 shot advantage including a 7-5 edge in shots on goal. The Cougars also had the advantage in corner kicks, earning nine compared to Hamilton's five.
The Cougars (15-4-2) took the lead when
Alex Gallagher found
Jackie Stevens down the left side and her shot was deflected by the Hamilton keeper which allowed Larkin to tap in the rebound.
The Continentals (10-6-2) had a dangerous chance in the 14
th minute, but Pojero came up big. Katja Dunlap took a cross from a teammate and was alone in the box, but Pojero came off her line to knock the ball away.
Misericordia had a good chance in the 29
th minute to go in the first half when Stevens took a corner and sent the ball into the box where it found the head of
Amber Hartranft, but the shot went straight into the keeper's hands.
About a minute later, the Cougars had another dangerous opportunity to double the lead when Gallagher sent a ball toward Devyn Anderson, who was running down the middle of the field. However, Anderson was unable to catch up with it and the ball went out of play for a Hamilton goal kick.
Just before the half, the Continentals earned a corner kick, but the Cougar defense was able to clear the ball as the half ran out.
Coming out of the break,
Kailee Crockett had a chance to extend the Cougars lead, but her shot went just wide in the 48
th minute.
In the 75
th minute, Hamilton had one of their best chances to tie the game, but Katie McKillop's shot from just outside the box found the waiting arms of Pojero.
Pojero made her biggest save of the day in the 85
th minute when Dunlap fired a shot from about 15 yards out, but the senior was there to make a diving save.
