Women’s Soccer: Tigers End Season On High Note

By: Desmond Boyle, Staff Writer

The Tigers’ defense rallied after a 3-2 loss to William & Mary, with  a shutout win over Elon Sunday.

“I’m obviously pleased for the seniors that they get to have their last memory be something positive,” Head Coach Gary Paynter said. “But for this whole team, it’s a great way to go into the offseason.”

Elon and Towson played a defensive contest as neither team scored in the first half. It was a defender, senior Vasthy Delgado, that broke the deadlock.

The Towson senior capped her career with a curling effort 67 minutes in after she collected the ball at the right side of the edge of the 18-yard box before she bended her shot into the net at the far post.

“I just wanted it to get on frame,” Delgado said. “I didn’t want it to go out. I was so excited that it went in.”

In Friday’s game, William & Mary attacked instantly as freshman forward Mackenzie Kober received a pass that managed to go unchallenged all the way across Towson’s back four defenders. She then stepped up and spun past one defender before placing her shot into the net at the far post just three minutes into the game.

The Tigers then scored a goal following a defensive mistake from the Tribe within five minutes of the first goal. Freshman winger McKenzie McCaull collected the ball for the Tigers after a failed clearance before she lashed a shot over Tribe shot stopper Caroline Casey.

The Towson defense, again, let a long ball go unchallenged, this time a tremendous thru ball from senior midfielder Nicole Baxter.

Towson’s junior goalkeeper Taylor Sebolao rushed up but Sami Grasso controlled the ball, and chipped the ball over Sebolao and into the back of the net.

With one minute left in the half, the Tribe doubled their lead when junior midfielder Haley Kavanaugh slid a pass at the edge of the penalty area. Moore then took the ball forward deep into the penalty area without a single Tiger stepping up in defense before blasting the ball into the back of the net.

Towson pulled back into the game in the second half when the Tribe tried to play the ball forward.

Garber then picked her head up and noticed that Casey was off her line and chipped the ball over the keeper’s fingertips and into the top of the net.

The goal would only be a conciliation as Towson could not complete the comeback, meaning that the final game against Elon was their last chance to win their first conference game this year, which they fortunately were able to do.