The women's soccer team came up big Wednesday afternoon as they scored four unanswered to defeat Pfeiffer University 4-1. With today's win, the Bruins have improved to 2-0-1 on the season.
"The team came ready to win," said midfielder Elli Cummings. "We had a let down early in the first half, but we came back fired up ready to turn things around. We worked to possess and got the win we needed."
The Bruins entered today's game after a pair of matches in Rocky Mount, North Carolina last Friday and Saturday. After recording a 2-0 victory over North Carolina Wesleyan on Friday, the women's soccer team played to a scoreless draw against Meredith College on Saturday. Pfeiffer University came into the midweek match on the hunt for their first of the season after falling in their first two contests of the the season.
As the game got underway, the Falcons broke the deadlock early as they sailed one past Bruins goalkeeper Margaret Cummings just 58 seconds in to go up 1-0.
The Bruins went on to the attack as they looked to respond. They saw several scoring opportunities, but were shut down right at the Falcons goal line. But their time would come in the 16th minute as Celeste Baladi sent the ball up the field to Mia Marks in the near corner who sailed it into the box where Gabriela Gonzalez headed the ball into the back of the net to notch the first goal for the Bruins.
Another goal by Gonazlez in the 29th minute saw the Bruins take the lead and go up 2-1. They looked to capitalize on a couple more chances, but went into the halftime break leading 2-1.
Wasting no time after halftime, Sylvia Cummings raced up far side and opened the 2nd half with a timely goal to open her Bruins scoring account and increase the lead to 3-1. With just over a minute remaining in the match, Sylvia Cummings was back racing up the field. She then perfectly passed the ball to her sister Elli Cummings in front of the goal who scored to seal the deal and secure the 4-1 victory for the Bruins.
"I was incredibly proud of how well the team maintained composure after quickly going down 1-0," said Head Coach Chris Carmichael. "Pfeiffer did a great job putting us under some early pressure but the backline held strong and was able to settle the game down and helped once again to build our attacks and have done an amazing job."
Carmichael continued saying, "Elli Cummings stepped up big in the midfield and brought alot of energy on both sides of the ball and scored a great goal on a cross from her sister Sylvia to help put the game away. Sylvia also scored a timely goal right at the beginning of the second half to give us some breathing room and used a lot of technique and speed to separate from the fullback and slot the ball far corner. Gaby Gonzalez continues to be a dominant force scoring two of our goals and helped to control the tempo. We will get some recovery for some key players but that pushed alot of minutes. This was another total team performance and many are making the best of the minutes they are getting."
Up next, the Bruins are back home for their home opener Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. kickoff against Covenant College.
