The soccer women rebounded well from their tough 1-0 loss at Randolph-Macon last Wednesday, drubbing Sweet Briar 6-0 in Harrisonburg. The Royals drew the primetime slot on Saturday evening for EMU’s Homecoming and responded with a balanced win.
Eastern Mennonite scored three goals in the each half, started by Nora Osei (Springfield, Va./West Springfield), the ODAC’s leading scorer. A corner in the 20th minute opening things up, as Morgan Hill (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle) lofted the corner and Osei topped the crowd to head the ball into the net. Ten minutes later, Osei went in unassisted, as she took off on a breakaway. The forward was bumped to the ground, but recovered quickly to slice the ball into the right side of the net for her 13th tally of the season.
Then in the 42nd minute, Kristen Kirby (Fishersville, Va./Wilson Memorial) chipped a shot over the head of SBC’s keeper for the 3-0 lead at halftime.
In the 62nd minute, Osei set up Kirby with a great cross which pulled out the keeper. Kirby easily tapped in the ball for her second of the game. After a quiet 20 minutes, the Royals got two more in the final eight minutes. Kristyn Garlow (Bristow, Va./Patriot) found a loose ball and buried it for her first career goal. Hill flew in another loose ball from 20 yards out to produce the final score.
The Royals had an 18-5 advantage in shots, including 9-4 on goal. Becca Borg (Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula) started in goal and had two saves. Rachel Klainer (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) played the final 21 minutes and had a pair of saves as well.
The women improve to 9-4 overall, their most wins since 2008. At 4-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, EMU is tangled in a four-way tie for fourth place. On Wednesday, they host rival Bridgewater, another of the teams in that tie. Game time with the Eagles is 7 p.m.