The No. 25–ranked women’s soccer team opened its season with a dominating 6–1 win against Keuka College on Sept. 1 at Carp Wood Field. The Bombers’ success came mostly through ball control on the pitch.
Although Keuka’s defense played well for the first few minutes of the game, the South Hill squad was able to keep the Wolfpack on their side of the field for most of the match.
The Bombers found the back of the net early on in the match when senior forward Kelsey King popped the ball up for the first goal of the year.
The Bombers then scored their second goal of the day off of a header by junior midfielder Aimee Chimera who was set up by fellow junior Holly Niemiec.
Chimera, who led the team today with two goals, said one of the things the team has to work on is the speed it plays at.
“I think we already play at a pretty fast pace, but I think just making everything just a little bit quicker [and sharper] to bring us to the next level,” she said.
The third goal came at the 20th minute after freshman defender Megan Amaral dropped the ball right in front of the goal and junior forward Megan Nash finished it off.
The Bombers were able to get off another goal with 3:52 left to go in the first half off another Chimera header, assisted on the play by junior forward Jess Demczar.
Keuka attempted to keep the Blue and Gold from scoring again for the rest of the second half, tightening up its defense and forcing the Bombers to play outside toward the goal-line corners and clogging up the middle.
However, the South Hill squad wasted no time starting off the second half, scoring in the first 50 seconds off of a header by Niemiec.
Keuka got its first shot on goal as well as its first goal of the day at the 50-minute mark off the foot of junior forward Carly Sanford.
Freshman forward Savannah Brija slid the ball right past Keuka for the Bombers’ sixth goal of the day in her collegiate career debut.
Chimera said the win helped steer the team in the right direction for the rest of the season.
Head coach Mindy Quigg said even though the team came away with a win today, the players still have many things to work on.
“I think that we have a lot of depth up top and a lot of speed, pace and ability up top, and I think we executed that pretty well today,” Quigg said. “I think that we have a little more work to do with our timing and pace in the backfield, and I think we need a little more work there.”
The highlight of the day for Keuka was lone goalkeeper Kenna Kosinski, who saved 10 out of 16 shots on goal and made a few diving stops to keep Keuka in the game early on.
Keuka head coach Steve Christenson said he was proud of the way Kosinski played today against a potent Bombers offense.
“She’s a staple in our defense. I think she stood on her head for saves today,” Christenson said. “It could’ve been double digits. She was outstanding today, as well as the back line.”
The Bombers will play again at 7 p.m. Sept. 4 in the Rowan Tournament against Rowan University before taking on Ursinus College at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 5 in Glassboro, New Jersey.
