BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University women's soccer team won its second straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East contest by way of a shutout with a dominant 3-0 victory over Shepherd Saturday at Steph Pettit Stadium.
The Huskies (10-3, 8-3 PSAC East) got off to a quick start with a goal by
Lauren Bull (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) on a free kick in the 5
th minute of the game to get out to an early 1-0 lead over the Rams (4-5-4, 3-5-3 PSAC East). Bull's goal came from just outside the box and her shot on the set piece sparked a brilliant performance by Bloomsburg's offense, which put up a total of 25 shots during the contest.
Sixteen minutes after Bull's goal,
Nicole Varano (Mt. Carmel, Pa./Mt. Carmel) netted her eighth goal of the year to put the Huskies on top 2-0. The graduate forward was able to score on a shot right in front of the net after she received a pass in the box from Bull.
The impressive first half by Bloomsburg's offense continued when
Chloe Carns (York, Pa./Central York) was able to score the first goal of her career on a corner kick in the 34
th minute. Carns retrieved a loose ball in front of the net that was delivered from the corner by
Aubrey Hondros (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock South), and the junior sent the ball into the back of the net to extend the team's lead to 3-0 prior to halftime.
Bloomsburg's offense kept up the pressure in the second half and had 12 shots in the final frame, but some near misses and saves by Shepherd goalkeeper Alayna Burgamy kept the Huskies off the scoreboard. Burgamy leads the conference with 7.14 saves per game and finished Saturday's game with 10 saves in 90 minutes of play.
In the other net, Bloomsburg goalkeeper
Riley Spingler (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) picked up her seventh shutout of the year as she collected two saves on the day to keep the Rams off the scoreboard. Spingler's seven shutouts are tied for the second most in the PSAC.
For Varano, her eight goals are now leading the PSAC.
In Saturday's game, Bloomsburg had 13 shots on goal from 12 different players. Twenty-five different players saw playing time.
The Huskies outshot the Rams 25-5 and Bloomsburg took 11 corner kicks while Shepherd did not take one. Bloomsburg also controlled the ball for 57% of the game. While possessing the ball, the Huskies held it in the attacking end of the field 45% of the time.
Bloomsburg reamins sitting in second place of the PSAC East behind West Chester (11-0 10-0 PSAC East). The Huskies will take on third-place Kutztown (6-2-3, 5-2-3 PSAC East) in a key divisional game during their next outing, which will be at Kutztown on Wednesday at 3:00 PM.
