CUA falls to Scranton 1-0 on Senior Day

WASHINGTON – The CUA women’s soccer team dropped a tough 1-0 decision to Landmark Conference foe Scranton on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day.  The Royals scored in the 15th minute on a Sarah Gibbons goal and were able to hold the Cardinals off.

“We just weren’t good enough today,” head coach JP Sousa said following the match.  “We’re playing against Scranton, at home, in a conference match, we need to be better.  We needed to be more organized and we needed to have played harder and with more passion for the entire time, not just the last 15 minutes.”

The game was tight throughout and that was reflected in the number of shots, with Scranton totaling seven and CUA five.  The Royals did have nine corner kicks to the Cardinals’ one, while CUA starting goalkeeper Christina Cassidy made three saves and Scranton goalkeeper Caitlin Byrne sent back two shots.

Scranton controlled the early action as the Royals were awarded four corner kicks and took three shots in the opening 14:40 of play.  Gibbons shot at that 14:40 mark turned out to be a goal as she headed in a corner from Sydney Parker as the Royals took a 1-0 lead.

CUA did not record its first shot of the afternoon until fewer than six minute remained in the opening half.  Caroline Burke took the shot, but it went wide, while the Cardinals second shot of the half, also by Burke, sailed high.  That came with 1:26 to play in the half, and soon after the teams headed to halftime.

In the second half the defenses took over.  Scranton’s Samantha Russo fired a shot just 1:37 in, but that was the final attempt for either team until the 75:57 mark, when CUA's Regina Zolbrod got off a shot.  Her attempt was saved by Byrne however, and the score remained 1-0.

Mary McGann’s attempt at the 80:48 mark was high for CUA, while Maggie McCarthy’s shot, which proved to be the Cardinals’ last, came five minutes later and was saved by Byrne.

CUA will get right back to work on Tuesday when the Cardinals play host to Goucher in another Landmark Conference showdown.  Game time is set for 4:00 from CUA Soccer Field.

“We have to get right back out there on Tuesday against another conference team,” Sousa said.  “So the positive is we don’t get a lot of time to think about this one.  We’ll come back on Monday and have a good practice and then we’ll see what we can do on Tuesday.”