Late Corners Kind to Pilots in Victory over Maple Leafs
Goshen, Ind. – The Bethel women’s soccer team notched their first Crossroads League win in nearly two calendar years as they defeated Goshen 2-0 on their home turf on Wednesday night. The Pilots improve to 3-6-2 on the season and 1-1-0 in the Crossroads League.
The Pilots peppered the Maple Leafs goalkeeper early with five shots in nearly a five-minute span midway through the opening stanza and kept the pressure on with six more shots before intermission. However, the Maple Leaf defense held strong and kept the Pilots off the board. Tessa Zimmerly made saves on both of Goshen’s shots in the first half to preserve the deadlock heading into halftime.
The Maple Leafs ratcheted up their offensive attack in the second half, as Allison Ebersole missed consecutive shots in the 61st minute, including one off the crossbar, as a part of six shots for the Maple Leafs before the 63-minute mark.
Finally, in the 68th minute, off a Rebecca Kanpol corner, Lauren Hostetler played the ball in off the corer and Kama Hardy headed in the go-ahead goal near the post to give the Pilots a 1-0 lead. Just over three minutes later, off another Kanpol corner, Hostetler and Hardy played the ball to Sophia Bell who found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead in the 71st minute.
The Pilots held the two-goal advantage until the final horn, not allowing a shot in the final 27 minutes of action to notch their first Crossroads League win since October 24, 2015.
Bell torched the Maple Leafs for seven shots, four on goal, as the Pilots got away 21 shots on the night to Goshen’s 8.
“We had a really good level of play tonight,” said Head Coach Jamie Lindvall. “We did really well with the quality of our service and set up two great goals from Kama and Sophia. Kudos to Lauren for tallying two assists tonight!”
The Pilots return to the pitch on Saturday at 2:00 pm when they face off against Grace in Crossroads League action at Morey Field.