Virginia Beach, VA - Greensboro Colleges Women's Soccer team took the pitch today in Virginia Beach to face the Royals of Regent University. Going into the match the Prides confidence was through the roof as they were coming off a big win at Ferrum College and goalie Sofia Pagnamenta was named the USA Souths "Goalie of the Week". The match was an exciting one with a lot of offense from start to finish with each team having double digit shot attempts.
The match would start out fast with the Pride able to quickly gain steady possession in the attacking third. It would only take 6 minutes for the Pride to get a shot on goal. Regent would be able to attack on the counter, but Goalie of the Week Sofia Pagnamenta was able to save the lone attempt by the Royals in the first 10 minutes. In the 12th minute of the game the Pride would earn an attacking free and just a minute later Maci Hulver was able to dispatch an Amery Skinner pass for the Pride's first goal of the game.
Despite the early 1-0 lead the Pride would not sit back and only thirty seconds after the restart they were able to regain possession and start another attack. In the 14th minute Maci Hulver would find Svea Eckstrand in the box who scored a wonderful goal to put the Pride up 2-0 over the Royals. With the two goal lead the Pride kept pushing and pushing and over the next fifteen minutes, earning corners, attacking free kicks, and more shots on goal.
In the 40th minute Regent was able to sustain possession in the attacking third, but the attack would end quickly thanks to great defensive play from the back line and another great save from Sofia Pagnamenta. Following the defensive shutdown, the Pride was able to get out on the counter attack quick enough to get one final crack at goal before halftime. In the 44th minute Claire Friedlander would score with just 15 seconds to go to give the Pride a 3-0 lead heading into the break.
Going into the second half up 3-0 the Pride new Regent would come out desperate to get some offense going. They would drop back and defend brilliantly causing the Royals to become undisciplined in their play. The Royals would be shown a yellow in the 53rd minute and Greensboro would be able to switch field and attack. The Pride would have some slip ups of their own causing them to concede nine fouls in the second half and would also be shown a yellow in the 73rd minute.
Despite the fouls, Greensboro would stay dominate and hold the Royals scoreless the entire game. Sofia Pagnamenta would total 5 saves in the match and the Pride would stroll out of Virgina Beach with a 3-0 win. This would be the Prides third straight game without giving up a goal, but Coach Mike Johnston still sees room for improvement stating "We need to learn to be consistent for 90 minutes going forward as we did have some lapses. Regent is a quality side and they certainly gave us fits".
Greensboro's Women's soccer team will have a few days to keep getting better before their next match when the Cougars of Averett University come to town. That match is scheduled for Sunday, September 17th at 1:00pm at Pride Field.
