November 13, 2013
McManus hat trick leads Wolverines into ECAC semis
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Senior Becky McManus (Bel Air, Md./Harford Christian) recorded her first career hat trick and classmate Sam Weber (Freeport, Pa./Freeport added a pair of goals as the #4-seed Grove City College women's soccer team cruised to a 6-0 victory over #5-seed Juniata in the ECAC South Tournament Quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon at College Field.
Junior Nikki Youngs (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) added a goal for the Wolverines (12-9-1) while seniors Chelsea Tarolli (Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus) and Sarah Cessar (Slippery Rock, Pa./Slippery Rock) and sophomore Kristin Thomas (Ellicott City, Md./Chapelgate Christian) each recorded an assist.
Grove City dominated Juniata (14-6) from the onset, scoring three goals on three shots in the first 8:06 of action.
McManus scored her first goal by beating a defender and then drawing the goalkeeper out of net to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead at the two-minute mark. The goal would hold to be McManus' team-leading third game-winning goal of the year.
Grove City doubled its lead less than three minutes later when Tarolli dribbled down the endline to the right of the goal and crossed the ball to McManus for a goal just inside the left post. The assist was Tarolli's team-leading sixth of the season and the 14th of her career, moving her into a tie for 10th all-time at Grove City.
Weber quickly took the score to 3-0 in the ninth minute when her shot from just outside the box took a hop just over the diving reach of the Juniata goalkeeper.
McManus completed the hat trick in just the 35th minute, finishing a pass from Kristin Thomas to give the Wolverines a 4-0 advantage into the halftime break.
Weber netted her second goal of the match in the 59th minute, finishing a feed from Cessar to make it a 5-0 game. For Weber, it was her sixth goal of the season and the 30th of her career, giving her a share of ninth-place in Wolverine women's soccer history in that category.
Youngs closed the scoring for Grove City in the 76th minute when she ripped a shot from 40 yards out into the upper left-hand corner of the net for her first goal of the season.
Senior Tiffany Yost (Christiana, Pa./Living Word) started and made three saves in the first half to earn the win in goal while junior Kristi Lathrop (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) also made three saves in the second half.
With the victory, the Wolverines advance to the ECAC South semifinals, to be held this weekend at a site and time to be determined. Grove City will face the winner of this evening's matchup between top-seeded Stevenson and #8-seed Alvernia.
In today's other quarterfinals, #7-seed Arcadia upset #2-seed McDaniel, 3-1, while #6-seed Swarthmore battled past #3-seed Lebanon Valley, 3-2.
If Stevenson wins this evening, they will host this weekend's semifinals and finals while an Alvernia victory would give Grove City the right to host as the highest remaining seed.
Go back to Wolverine Soccer Home Page