The Bruins women's soccer team roared back with four goals in the second half as the team won their season opener against North Carolina Wesleyan University in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on Friday afternoon. Mia Marks and Kayle Stevenson each scored a pair of goals to fuel the comeback win.
"I am incredibly proud of the resilience of this team to be able to come back the way they did," Bruins Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. "We had quite a few starters that were out due to various health reasons and the team rallied behind them to notch the win. Hats off to NCWU for a great game they played as they were very organized and created lots of challenges for us."
The Bruins came into the game after a draw and a loss in their two preseason matches. The team was ready to lace it up for the regular season as they took on the Battling Bishops.
In the opening half, the Bishops came out strong and pressured the net. It didn't take long for NCWU to find the back of the net as Caitlyn Butler scored to make it 1-0 less than five minutes into the game.
Less than five minutes later, the Bishops added to their lead as Rian Pecci scored to make it 2-0. The Bruins tried to battle back, but struggled to maintain their offensive flow as the first half ended with the score 2-0.
In the second half, the Bruins came out strong and possessed the ball well from the start. Mia Marks put the Bruins on the board less than five minutes into the second half to cut the lead to 2-1. Minutes later, Marks would tie the game off another beautiful goal as the score was even at 2-2.
The Bruins had grabbed momentum and it showed as they continued to relentlessly pressure the net. Kayle Stevenson gave the Bruins the lead in the 71st minute with a goal off an assist from Gabriella Gonzalez as the team led 3-2. Stevenson then put the exclamation point on the comeback with another goal in the 78th minute as the Bruins won 4-2.
"We made a few adjustments at halftime and the players did a phenomenal job executing and getting hard earned win," Coach Carmichael said. "The players created a number of goal scoring opportunities and it was just a matter of time before they started putting the ball into the back of the net. We are going to try to recover quickly but lost another starter it looks like so will have to keep working hard but need to get as much recovery and rest as we can."
Mia Marks and Kayle Stevenson notched their first goals of the season while freshman Anna Grace Abrams led the way with a pair of assists in the win. Next up, the Bruins will be back in action on Saturday as they face Meredith College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
