WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Oct. 26) – The Waynesburg University women's soccer team went into Tuesday night's game with Geneva knowing a win would clinch the program's first trip to the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) tournament since 2012. Despite falling behind 1-0 early on, the Yellow Jackets didn't waiver in the task at hand and roared back to defeat the Golden Tornadoes 7-1.
The victory not only featured the Jackets' (8-7-1, 4-4-1) biggest goal output since a 7-0 win over Mount Aloysius on Sept. 22, 2011, but it was the biggest scoring effort for Waynesburg against a conference opponent since before 2005. The Jackets end the regular season on a three-game winning streak in which they outscored their opponents 13-3. That trio of victories also gave the Orange and Black its first overall winning record since 2011.
As previously mentioned, Geneva (5-12, 4-5), which was also playing for a spot in the PAC playoffs, jumped on the board first just 5:01 into the contest. Freshman
Haley Johnson (Somerset, Pa. / Rockwood) got the equalizer for the victors after taking a long outlet pass from senior
Lea Holtz (Johnstown, Pa. / Bishop McCort) and beating the Golden Tornado keeper in the 12
th minute.
The Jackets took their first lead of the cold, drizzly night just before halftime in the 44
th minute. Sophomore
Kate James (Silver Spring, Md. / St. John's College H.S.) did the honors with an unassisted tally, which was her second goal in as many games.
Waynesburg was riding high by the time halftime rolled around. However, they would be feeling even better about themselves in period number.
The host squad clung to its one-goal edge for the first 31 minutes of the second half. Once the 76
th minute rolled around, the floodgates opened for the Orange and Black offense and they left no doubt as to who was heading to the playoffs.
Holtz got things rolling with her third goal of the season, which was assisted upon by Johnson, to make the score 3-1. Two minutes later, Johnson logged her second goal of the night in the 78
th minute. Just 58 seconds later, Johnson did it again, notching another unassisted goal for her first collegiate hat trick.
Sophomore
Jacinda Devart (Grafton, W.Va. / Grafton) logged her first goal as a Yellow Jacket in the 83
rd minute. James assisted on the score. She notched another helper during the game's final tally, which found the netting three seconds before the game came to an end off the foot of senior
Meghan Briski (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine-Richland).
Waynesburg's offensive outburst gave plenty of support to junior goalkeeper
Autumn Blair (Penn Hills, Pa. / Penn Hills), who tallied five saves over 90 minutes in net.
The 2021 PAC tournament is scheduled to open on Saturday, Oct. 30. Waynesburg is currently in the number-five spot in the conference rankings. If Franciscan defeats Westminster tomorrow, The Yellow Jackets fall to sixth place.
