PITTSBURGH, Pa. (September 4) –
Hailey Gilchrest (Hanover, Va. / Hanover) pinged a shot off the right post into net to tally the game-winning goal in the 79th minute as the Waynesburg University women's soccer team earned a 2-1 comeback victory at La Roche on Wednesday evening.
Waynesburg moves to 2-0 with another successful second half road comeback to open the 2024 season. La Roche falls to 1-1 on the year.
After a scoreless first half that saw the Jackets outshot La Roche 11-1, it was the Redhawks who struck first with a penalty kick early in the second half.
The hosts booted a free kick from midfield into the 18-yard box where a collision between an offensive player and the Jacket goalkeeper resulted in a penalty shot. La Roche converted the PK into the bottom right corner to take a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute.
The Jackets secured an equalizer as
Madey Hill (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) headed home a corner kick off the foot of
Sutton Clark (Ashburn, Va. / Stone Bridge) in the 72nd minute. Hill swerved inside the defender marking her and ducked inside the six-yard box to knock the ball past the Redhawks keeper.
Gilchrest delivered the game winner seven minutes later as
Julz Mohrbacher's (Freedom, Pa. / Freedom) pressure on La Roche's back line resulted in a turnover deep in Redhawk territory. Mohrbacher knocked the ball ahead to Gilchrest, who took a touch, and aimed her shot to the lower-right corner where the ball ricocheted off the right post and into the goal from 17 yards out.
The Jackets outshot La Roche 18-8 on the day and held an 11-4 edge in shots on goal. Waynesburg recorded all six of the game's corner kicks.
Reagan Mittendorf (Bluffton, Ohio / Bluffton) and
Demaree Livingston (Willow Grove, Pa. / Upper Dublin) both put three shots on frame. Goalkeeper
Alexus Greenlief (Chester, W. Va. / Oak Glen) made three saves in the win.
The Jackets have yet to concede a goal in the run of play this season. Waynesburg notched its second come-from-behind win with the game-winning goal coming in the final 15 minutes of regulation.
The Jackets take on Mount Aloysius in their home opener on Saturday evening at 6 p.m.