BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - No. 20 Bloomsburg women's soccer rebounded from its weekend defeat Wednesday evening with a 1-0 win over Shippensburg.

In a defensive struggle through the first 45 minutes, the Huskies (7-2-2, 4-2-2 PSAC East) found the game-winner off the foot of Sydney Donovan (Middletown, Del./Appoquinimink). The midfielder hit a knuckling shot to find the top right corner and give Bloomsburg the cushion for victory. The Raiders (2-4-3, 1-4-3 PSAC East) had several opportunities to find an equalizer with a combination of shots, either forcing a save or rattling off the post. 

How It Happened:
Shippensburg entered the midweek matchup with the intent of minimizing the Huskies' opportunities with the ball. The Raiders came out solid defensively, building out from the back and hoping to maintain possession. 

Bloomsburg began to chip away at the foundation of the Raiders' strategy after the first five minutes. Anna Dalesandro (Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser) took the first shot of the day for the Huskies from outside the box, forcing a relatively routine stop from Shippensburg's Kirstin Brown. A focal point for Bloomsburg early on was playing down the right side through Anika Krasnai (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township), with the winger just unable to connect with Dalesandro on a cross before nearly taking a direct pass from Sophia Clark (Hughesville, Pa./Hughesville) on one end of the field and putting the ball in the back of the net, with the forward's shot skipping past the face of the goal while aiming for the opposite post. 

While the Raiders continued to create positive opportunities going forward in the attacking third, the visitors remained unable to break through the initial foothold established by the Huskies' back four. The defensive efforts by Bloomsburg allowed the home side to continue creating pressure in the final third, with Donovan nearly taking a throw-in off the bounce and sneaking the ball inside the near post before a save by Brown. 

The final offensive flurry for Bloomsburg in the first half came in the 38th minute from the pressing efforts of Kennedie Huber (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood), with the junior drawing a corner for her side. The ensuing delivery resulted in several taps around the box, leading to Beth Stephens (Lacey Township, Pa./Marine Academy of Technology) getting a chance with a header on goal. From the subsequent press, Haley Bull (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) took her chances shooting from distance, and with another catch from Brown, sent the contest into the halftime break scoreless.

Having a better grasp of the momentum in the first half, the Huskies sought to claim what they thought they deserved in the first half by amping up the intensity across the board. The result was a smothering presence by Bloomsburg in Shippensburg's half, with two shots and a corner kick to show. The pressure paid dividends en route to the Huskies' first goals. After a save, the Raiders tried to turn upfield quickly to break through Bloomsburg's block. After Cassi Snyder (Hegins, Pa./Tri-Valley) turned a Raider away at midfield, Shippensburg worked the ball back to Brown. The goalkeeper's pass went centrally to a defender, and nearly instantaneously, Donovan met and dispossessed the Raider. With Shippensburg rallying to the ball, the midfielder squared the ball from 25 yards out and found a home for the ball just inside the post to give the team the lead. 

Donovan nearly doubled her tally 30 seconds later, as a chaotic cross from Krasnai rolled around in the box before Donovan's first-time shot went just over the crossbar. The junior's last troublesome shot of the evening came after a cross from Viktorya Luckenbach (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Pine Grove Area) was left unattended until Donovan came streaking in for an attempt against her momentum that lacked enough power to get over the line.

The Raiders' first recorded shot of the match did not come until 64 minutes played, but the visitors almost made it count. With Bloomsburg committing bodies forward in search of a second, Shippensburg found a momentary glimmer of hope for the equalizer with a through ball into space against a stretched-thin backline for the Huskies. To the dismay of the Raiders, senior goalkeeper Samantha Merklin (Effort, Pa./Pleasant Valley) held her ground at the near post for what proved to be her lone save of the night. Shippensburg continued to showcase resilience in the final stretch of the match, getting off another attempt, driving into a similar gap for a shot that rippled the side netting.

Olivia Thompson (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) nearly provided the insurance Bloomsburg wanted on several occasions in the final 20 minutes, coming close off a pair of successive shots in the 73rd minute. A short-looped through ball from Emma Wilkinson (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) took a hop past a pair of defenders for the Raiders to give the forward space. The junior's initial first-time effort hit the underside of the bar, with her follow-up attempt floating onto the top of the netting. Later in the half, Thompson would take her chances one-on-one in hopes of doubling the advantage. Bria Savage (Harpers Ferry, W. Va./Jefferson) came moments away from her first career goal, as the freshman was promptly denied after a heroic diving block by a Shippensburg player.

The game did not finish without some final frights for the Huskies, as a final dangerous sequence inside the final 10 minutes nearly led to the equalizer. The Raiders found space against the right side of Bloomsburg's defense, and a well-aimed shot attempt ricocheted off the post and back inside the six-yard box. A Shippensburg player managed to get on the end of it. Brooke Coco (Blackwood, N.J./Paul VI) and Laci Bell (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) rallied and forced an extra touch from the player, and the shot attempt to hit the outside of the post, helped secure the shutout and the win.

Number of Note: 
5 - A team defensive effort was part of the Huskies' overall success on Wednesday. Bloomsburg held Shippensburg to five shots in the match, including zero in the first half. It is the fourth contest this season in which the Huskies have held an opponent to at or under the mark.

On the Horizon:
Bloomsburg women's soccer celebrates Senior Day on Saturday, October 11, with a 4:00 p.m. clash against Millersville.