Women's Soccer Bests Mercyhurst North East, 4-1

The Kats won their second contest of the season on the road against Mercyhurst Northeast this afternoon, 4-1.

Erie started off on the front foot, controlling the flow of play and possession in midfield. The Saints defense would stand tough for much of the contest, defending numerous Erie attacks.

Just after the 10 minute mark, Erie opened the scoring when Elena Patti would find herself scoring her first goal of the year, finishing off a combination of passes between Abbey Lombard and Jamilah McBryde at the back post. Mercyhurst would thwart off a flurry of Erie attacks and corner kicks, before Megan Brodziak would finish off a cross from Rachel Fiore to make the score 2-0. Sophomore forward Abbey Lombard would stretch the lead to 3-0 before the half when she found the back of the net from a Nicole Torres cross in the 43rd minute.

About 2 minutes into the second half, Lombard would find the net for the second time, when Makena Carpenter lofted a ball behind the Saints back line to the oncoming forward who calmly finished the chance.

The  Kats would remain in control until late in the game when the Saints pressed forward looking to get back into the contest late. Their effort would be rewarded late, when they were granted a controversial penalty kick after Autumn Farino would make an initial save, only to hear the whistle with the referee deeming the shooter was fouled. The Saints converted the kick, and the final whistle would blow shortly after, with the final score 4-1.

"I was very happy with the way we maintained possession today" Coach Gary Brighton would say after the game. "We saw the ball in our end only once in the entire first half, which was great."

"I was extremely pleased with the movement and shape of our back line" he continued. "It's something specific we wanted to improve upon, so any coach would be happy to see it implemented like we did today."

The Kats next game is at home this Saturday when they host the Jefferson Cannoneers at 1pm at South Campus.