NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – McDaniel's Jessica Weinoldt scored the lone goal of the game in the 57th minute and The University of Scranton women's soccer team (13-4-3) dropped a tough 1-0 decision to the Green Terror (12-3-5) in NCAA Tournament First Round action on Saturday night at Captains Field in Newport News.
This marked the seventh straight year that the Royals have competed in the NCAA Tournament. It was also the third-ever meeting between the Royals and Green Terror and the first since 2015.
McDaniel advances to take on host Christopher Newport in Sunday's second round game as the Captains were a 7-0 winner over Marymount (Va.).
Junior Emily Bannon (Middletown, N.Y./Minisink Valley) provided an early chance for the Royals in the third minute, but her shot was saved by McDaniel goalie Lauren Hoolahan. The two teams continued to battle each other with both defenses putting forth strong efforts throughout the first half and perhaps the best chance for the Royals came in the 25th minute when senior Niamh Healy (Orangeburg, N.Y./Tappan Zee) ripped a shot from the top of the 18-yard box and Hoolahan made a diving save to keep things scoreless. Hoolahan recorded a total of five saves in the first half and Royals' junior goalie Nicole Olson (Stoughton, Mass./Ursuline Academy) denied Liz LeChard with a shot in the 33rd minute as the game remained deadlocked at zero through the opening stanza.
Weinoldt's goal came in the 57th minute when LeChard played in a ball from the wing and Weinoldt headed it home for a 1-0 lead. From there, Scranton searched for an equalizer and an attempt by Healy in the 71st minute went just high of the target and sophomore Morgan Griffin (Sea Cliff, N.Y./North Shore) saw her shot turned away by Hoolahan just over a minute later. The Royals tallied two more chances in the final five minutes of the contest, but came up just short in the heartbreaking 1-0 loss.
Scranton held a 15-6 advantage in shots led by six from Healy, while Olson registered one save in net.
Hoolahan made eight saves in net for McDaniel.
The Royals' 2023 roster included nine seniors in Healy, Mary Haggerty (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City), Sam Lowe (Parsippany, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's), Alaina McLaughlin (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan), Claire Mulholland (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee), Kaylee Murphy (Lafayette Hill, Pa./William Penn Charter), Gabrielle Richetti (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East), Devyn Tanajewski (Ringwood, N.J./Lakeland Regional) and Emily Tantala (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy).
--ROYALS--
