Alvernia Turns Back Gophers' Comeback Bid

READING, Pa. - Visiting Goucher College (3-3) rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to tie the game 2-2 late, but host Alvernia (3-3) scored the game-winner in the 78th minute to turn back the Gophers 3-2 in non-conference women's soccer Tuesday afternoon at Alvernia Stadium.

• Taty Jimenez (Modesto, Calif./Enoch) put a shot on goal in the 24th minute that was stopped by Alvernia keeper Brynn Bock.
• Just over a minute later, the Golden Wolves put their first shot on goal in the contest that was turned aside by Jenna Abaza (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West)
• Alvernia took a 1-0 lead just shy of the 28-minute mark.
• Jenna Wentling made it 2-0 in favor of the hosts in the 35th minute.
• Abaza made another stop on a bid to make it 3-0 in the 38th minute.

• Jimenez's low bid on frame just over five minutes into the second half was saved by new Golden Wolves keeper Lily Sankey.
• In the 59th minute, Lily Shaffer (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) lifted a shot from 25 yards out that snuck inside the left post to cut the Alvernia advantage to 2-1.
• The Gophers kept the pressure up, with Amber Wambach (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) putting two shots on goal and Carly Stevens (Hampstead, Md./Hereford) also putting one on frame, but all three were stopped by Sankey.
• In the 77th minute, Lexie Alvarado (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) tucked a shot in from the right side into the top left corner from 15 yards out after one-timing a long pass from Vivika Cordova (Upland, Calif/Upland) to tie the game 2-2.
• Just over a minute and a half later, Angelica Key scored for Alvernia to give the hosts a 3-2 advantage.
• Claudia Roller (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) had one final shot for Goucher in the game's closing moments but her bid went wide.

• Goucher outshot Alvernia 17-9, including 12-3 over the final 45 minutes.
• Abaza finished with a pair of saves for the Gophers.  Bock made one save in the first half before Sankey turned aside five shots in the second half.
• The Gophers had seven of the game's 10 corner kicks.
• Shaffer's goal was her second collegiate goal, while Alvarado's was the first collegiate tally for the sophomore.
• The loss snaps a three-game win streak for Goucher.

PLAY OF THE GAME@GoucherSoccer ties the game 2-2 at Alvernia in the 77th minute as Lexie Alvarado one-times a long pass from Vivika Cordova.#d3soccer #GopherGreatness pic.twitter.com/l8BCpxaKIX

— Goucher Gophers (@GoucherSports) September 21, 2021

• Goucher opens Landmark Conference play on Saturday, September 25, when it hosts Elizabethtown at 1 pm at Beldon Field.