The women's soccer team went undefeated for the weekend on the road, beating Birmingham-Southern College (Ala.) Panthers 2-0 on Friday and Berry College 2-0 on Sunday. The No.10-ranked Eagles were able to improve their record to 5-2-1 after winning both games.
"They were two important games because they were both regional games," Head Coach Sue Patberg said after the weekend wins. "The whole beginning of our season was played out of region."
In the game against Birmingham-Southern, senior defender Lauren Gorodetsky was able to break the scoreless match during the second half with two goals.
The first half saw little scoring action, although the Eagles kept possession of the ball with 13 shots to none for BSC.
As the second half was underway, both teams continued to compete, as BSC pursued their first shot for the day. As the 70th minute approached, Gorodetsky put Emory on the board with the first goal in the game. Gorodetsky was able to push the Eagles up 1-0 after scoring off of a corner kick.
Twenty minutes later, Gorodetsky turned a free kick into a scoring opportunity for the Eagles, firing a shot on net to put the Emory up 2-0. The score stayed the same for the rest of the game.
This was Gorodetsky's first multiple-goal game of her career. The senior is a three-time All-American and was named D3Soccer.com's defensive player of the year for 2012.
Emory finished with a total of 24 shots, 10 on goal, while Birmingham-Southern had a total of 4 shots, with 1 being on goal.
Sophomore goalkeeper Liz Arnold saved the only shot on net, improving her personal goals-against average to 0.55. The single save also earned Arnold her first career shutout in net, the first Emory goalkeeper to do so since Sept. 19, 2010.
The Eagles were able to keep the momentum in their favor for the weekend as they defeated the Berry College Vikings on the road, 2-0. The win established the squad's third straight win and second straight shutout for the season.
Emory was able to inch a lead early on in the match when Gorodetsky furthered her weekend scoring streak within the first 10 minutes of play. On the scoring play, junior forward Charlotte Butker sailed a corner kick into the six-yard box, where she was able to find Gorodetsky to head the ball into the back of the net, making the score 1-0.
As the first half concluded, the Eagles put up a total of eight shots, half on net, against the Vikings' single shot that was taken during the first half of play.
The Eagles led 1-0 for the rest of the game until freshman forward Cristina Ramirez scored another for Emory to increase the lead to 2-0 over the Vikings. Ramirez was able to convert a turnover into a goal for the Eagles when Berry's goalkeeper fumbled the ball in the 18-yard box. Ramirez took possession of the free ball to shoot and score in the corner of the net for her second goal of the season.
The Eagles' defense only let up a single shot on goal and seven shots in total. Arnold and junior goalkeeper Gabrielle Pelura each played a half in net, to combine for their second shutout of the season together.
Emory led with 18 total shots, 10 of them being on net. Senior forward Veronica Romero and freshman center midfielder Julia Bassell tied for leading shooters, both with three apiece.
After the game against Berry, the team wrapped up the weekend with two wins, despite being on the road for both of them.
"We are looking forward to playing home next weekend in our stadium with our fans after traveling a lot for our past games," said Patberg.
The team will look to continue their winning streak at home with their match against Rhodes College (Tenn.) on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1:30 p.m.
–By Zoe Elfenbein
Photo courtesy of Emory Athletics
