Cardinals down Hood 1-0 to earn second straight win

FREDERICK, Md. – The CUA women's soccer team earned its second straight 1-0 victory on Wednesday as the Cardinals downed Hood on the road.  Chiara Comolli scored the game-winner for CUA with her goal in the 21st minute.  With the win the Cardinals improve to 5-4.

The Cardinals held a 20-4 advantage in shots on Wednesday, including a commanding 8-1 lead in the opening 45 minutes.  CUA was also awarded three corner kicks to Hood's two. 

Christina Cassidy earned the win in goal for CUA as she stopped two shots, while Blazers goalkeeper Rachelle Buhrman sent back five shots in her 90 minutes of action.

"I thought we played very good soccer today," head coach J.P. Sousa said afterwards.  "We kept the ball which is what we've been working on, we moved the ball well, we just needed to generate more scoring opportunities.  We weren't connecting on that final pass inside the penalty box.  We just need to keep working and improve the little things."

Sousa then commented on how he thought his Cardinals looked following a long layoff.  "We were fresh.  Everyone who is healthy for us got into the game.  Our conditioning is starting to come around and because of that we were able to play good possession soccer.  I thought we showed good composure as well."

Kelly Donnelly took the first shot of the match, just 30 seconds in.  Buhrman made the save, but it set the tone that the Cardinals wanted.

Mary McGann's attempt eight minutes in sailed wide, and her shot ten minutes later was high.  In the 21st minute Comolli got CUA on the board with her first score of the season off a feed from Maggie McCarthy.  McCarthy played the ball in on a corner kick and Comolli found the back of the net to make it 1-0.

Towards the latter stages of the opening half CUA unleashed three shots in a span of less than three minutes, but one shot was saved, another was blocked and the third went wide.  Soon after the teams headed into halftime with the Cardinals leading 1-0.

Donnelly started the second half the same way she began the first, with a shot early on.  Her attempt was wide, but CUA continued to keep the pressure on. 

Courtney Orgill's attempt at the 50:06 mark was high, while Noelle Arcomano's attempt two minutes later went wide.

Orgill's shot with under 20 to play was stopped by Buhrman and Comolli's attempt two minutes later was wide. 

The Cardinals defense remained strong as it kept the Blazers off the scoreboard for the remainder of the match and CUA notched its second straight win.

CUA will now step back into conference play with a trip to Juniata scheduled for Saturday afternoon beginning at 1:00.  "We're going to need to be ready," Sousa said.  "It's a conference game on the road so we need to bring it."  He continued, "We're starting to build our confidence.  Two straight wins without allowing any goals is a good thing.  This is a new month and we're looking at things with a new focus.  We just need to make good decisions all the time when we're out there.  We can't be satisfied; we need to be thinking through the entire game.  That's the next step for us."