The Royals made good use of their chances Saturday, scoring on half of their shots on goal in a 3-1 ODAC win over Guilford. The women take over sole possession of eighth place in the league standings as they enter a busy stretch to end the year. Starting with Tuesday’s rescheduled game at Virginia Wesleyan, EMU closes the regular season with four games in eight days.
The Royals broke open an otherwise close first half with two goals just before the break. In the 39th minute, Sara Shenk Moreno (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) set up fellow freshman Sierra Martin (Glenwood Springs, Colo./Glenwood Springs) at the top of the box, and Martin bent a shot into the upper left. One minute later, the women struck again. This time Morgan Hill (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle) received a pass at the top of the box, moved around a GC defender and launched a shot into the goal.
Despite being out-shot 8-6 in the half, the sudden 2-0 lead for the Royals gave them a boost for the second half. Keeper Brianna Stanard (Spotsylvania, Va./Spotsylvania) then gave them an even bigger shot in the arm less than three minutes into the second.
After a foul in the box on a breakaway, Guilford was awarded a penalty kick. Stanard read the kick and made a diving stop to knock it away, then quickly got back to her feet and swatted away the rebounded attempt for a second save.
With Stanard keeping the Quakers off the board, senior Nora Osei (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) made the lead bigger with a breakaway goal in the 71st minute, pushing it to 3-0. Guilford finally got a goal on a rebound in the 80th minute. The Quakers got one more shot in the final minute, but that was it in EMU’s 3-1 win.
The Royals ended up being out-shot 15-10, although shots on goal were even at 6-6. Osei had a team high four attempts including three on goal. Stanard charted five saves in goal.
Eastern Mennonite is now 6-7-1 overall including 4-4 in the ODAC.