Posted: Sep 26, 2017
BEREA, Ohio – In the final non-conference game of the season, the Baldwin Wallace University women's soccer team recorded its fifth straight shutout with a 2-0 victory over Grove City (Pa.) College.
The Yellow Jackets (7-3) have not allowed a goal since the 21st minute in the game against Buffalo St. (N.Y.) just over two weeks ago for a total of 518:48 minutes.
Off multiple deflections and a collision with the goalie, junior two-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference and Academic All-OAC forward Rachel Bender (Massillon/Jackson) sent a ball into the top of the net, giving the Yellow Jackets an early jolt and a 1-0 lead.
BW continued to create a lot of good scoring opportunities in the first half, taking 12 shots and putting all but two of them on goal. Senior goalkeeper Trishae Winters kept the Wolverines in the game with all of her game's eight saves in the half.
Freshman midfielder Kenna Stones (Dresden/Tri-Valley) recorded her first collegiate goal in the 37th minute after the ball hit the crossbar and she knocked the rebound deep into the net.
The second half proved to be a different story as Grove City came out of the locker room with a lot of energy and determination and dominated possession, getting two quick shots off in the 46th minute. The Wolverines forced BW on the defensive for most of the second half, taking 10 shots to the Yellow Jackets' two.
BW's back line of junior Academic All-OAC defender Bri Osborne (Cincinnati/Batavia), senior Academic All-OAC defender Jenny Burdick (Chesterfield, Va./Matoaca), senior Academic All-OAC defender Lauren Haynam (Minerva) and senior defender Kori Miller (North Olmsted/Holy Name) anchored the defense and worked hard to keep Grove City off the scoreboard in the second half. Freshmen defenders Cydney Grannemann (Avon, Ind.), Kaitlin McGuire (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) and Morgan Gray (Dublin/Scioto) all contributed to the defensive effort as the defensive substitutions allowed the Yellow Jackets to regain some of the rhythm late in the second half.
While BW only got two shots off in the second half, the Yellow Jackets were around the Wolverines box several times but could not work around the defense to take a shot.
Head Coach Jim Wojtkun looked at this matchup against Grove City as a good preparation for conference play that begins on Friday, comparing the Wolverines to an OAC team due to their physical nature that replicates what the Yellow Jackets will see for the rest of the season.
BW will hit the road to begin OAC play when it travels to Marietta to take on Marietta College on Friday, Sept. 29, at 5 p.m. on Marietta Field.
