DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The fourth-ranked Columbus State University women's soccer team scored three first half goals, including two before the eighth minute, to defeat Embry-Riddle 4-2 Saturday. The season opener was played at the ERAU Soccer Stadium in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The opening minutes were a frenzy as the two sides combined for four early goals.
Senior
Riley Clark scored the opener in the third minute before the Eagles found the equalizer less than two minutes later. It wasn't tied for long as
Maddy Peterson found a loose ball in the box and fired it in for a goal at the 6:24 mark.
However less than 20 seconds later, Rita Okoro tied it up once again for the Eagles.
"You'll never know what you'll get in the opening match," said head coach
Jay Entlich. "We could have easily quit going up twice early just to surrender the lead each time. But give the girls credit, we bounced back to play a much better second half."
It wasn't much longer until Columbus State (1-0) took the lead for good. It was Peterson again giving the Lady Cougars the advantage, shooting from the right side of the box for her second goal of the night.
Each team settled down until the 65
th minute when
Kimmy May gave CSU a 4-2 lead. It was May's only shot of the night as she weaved through defenders before finding space for the shot attempt.
The Lady Cougars didn't give Embry-Riddle (0-1) much after that allowing just two shots to grab the victory.
Bria Riancho grabbed the win playing all 90 minutes in the match.
Columbus State will close out the Embry-Riddle Invitational on Monday with a match against 20
th-ranked Barry. All the action is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.
Match Notes
- Columbus State has now won six straight season openers. Overall, CSU is now 12-2-2 in the first match of the year.
- With the win, the Lady Cougars snapped Embry-Riddle's 11-match home unbeaten streak.
- CSU has now won 16-straight regular-season matches dating back to 2018.
- With her goal, Clark tied Kellie Myles (2005-08) for eighth all-time on the CSU point list (85).
- Clark also tied Cassandra Wade (2014-17) for sixth place for most goals in CSU history (37).
