Cumberland, MD – Natalie Warne scored 3:06 into the second half as Garrett College rallied for a 2-2 women's soccer tie Thursday afternoon at local rival Allegany College of Maryland.
Warne's goal, set up by a Jorjalynn Ward feed, kicked off a second half thoroughly dominated by the Lady Lakers. Garrett had an 8-1 second-half shots advantage and took the game's only three corner kicks after intermission.
"I felt really good about the second half," said GC head coach Brandon Jackson, whose Lady Lakers (0-2-1) dropped a 3-1 decision at Mercer County Community College on Saturday. "We created a good amount of opportunities and we started to maintain possession better. We are still a team trying to figure out how to play with each other and understanding positions with the various roles assigned to them."
Warne also had the best chance at the go-ahead goal, drilling a shot from the right wing just wide of the far left post with 31 minutes remaining. ACM goaltender Hailee Jenkins (nine saves) came up with two impressive stops on a pair of Nevaeh Hamborsky shots in the final 13 minutes.
"We had a lot of momentum," said Jackson. "Our passing was really good. We just couldn't finish in the final third of the field."
Jackson praised the Trojans, who dressed just 12 players on a humid afternoon.
"Allegany played really hard for 90 minutes," said Jackson.
Hamborsky got the game's first goal just 4:22 into the contest to give GC a 1-0 lead. She started 25 yards out, turned on a defender and drilled a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.
The Trojans tied the game on an Ava Sipes penalty kick at the 10:15 mark after a handball violation in the box.
Allison Scritchfield put ACM ahead at 20:19 with a booming shot from 35 yards out that somehow found the top, left-hand corner of the net.
"That was nicely hit and Allie is a heck of a player," Jackson said of Scritchfield's goal. "You don't expect a shot from that far out to find the upper corner, but it did."
Garrett finished with a 14-5 lead in shots and a 4-2 edge in corners. GC goaltender Kayla Moore finished with three saves.
Mercer Co. 3, Garrett 1
West Windsor, NJ – Nevaeh Hamborsky scored her second goal of the season Saturday for the Lady Lakers after Mercer built a 3-0 lead.
Eva Sturm, Ana Pacheco, and Fiona Madigan each scored a goal for Mercer, which had a 13-3 shots advantage in the first half. Garrett played Mercer much more competitively in the second half as the hosts had a narrow 7-6 shots advantage after intermission.
"We didn't get the result that we wanted, but our players showed a lot of grit after getting behind early in the match," said GC head coach Brandon Jackson. "They played three games in a week and have already learned so much. We have shown this week that if we can minimize mistakes and learn to grow as a team, we have enough quality to play with anyone in the region."
CCBC-Essex 2, Garrett 0
Essex, MD – Ashlin Fuentes converted a first-half penalty kick and Tyetianna Cooper scored off an Ismari Hernandez feed with two minutes remaining last Tuesday as reigning region champion CCBC-Essex blanked the Lady Lakers in GC's season opener.
Essex – ranked 19th in the latest NJCAA Division II national poll – finished with an 18-1 shots advantage and a 3-0 edge in corner kicks. GC goaltender Sara Tabuena recorded eight saves for the Lady Lakers, who played a player down for the rest of the game after a first-half red card.
Next game: The Lady Lakers host Anne Arundel Community College Thursday at 3 p.m. in their home opener.
