No. 24 St. Mary’s Suffers First Loss of Season
St. Mary's City, Md. - Today's match-up featured a pair of Top 25 teams as No. 24 St. Mary's College of Maryland played host to No. 20 Virginia Wesleyan College Wednesday afternoon. There was no upset this afternoon as Virginia Wesleyan came out on top with a 3-0 shutout and the Seahawks succumbed to their first loss of the 2008 campaign, ending their unbeaten streak at 10.
With the win, the Marlins (8-1-3) extend their unbeaten streak to 11 and record their seventh shutout of the season. Virginia Wesleyan is regionally ranked No. 3 in the South Region, while SMCM is fourth in the Middle Atlantic Region.
Junior midfielder Stacy Zeiler (Springfield, Va./Robert E. Lee) started the scoring for VWC at 21:13 as Zeiler sent in a high floating free kick from 25 yards out into the far right corner.
The Marlins increased their lead to 2-0 at 37:10 as freshman forward Katie Gradel (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) put in a cross from the right edge of the box all the way to the far post where fellow classmate Kristyn Anselmo (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) one-timed it in.
The final tally came in the second half when Gradel fired in a shot from 25 yards into the upper left corner at 62:07 for her team-leading sixth goal of the season.
VWC posted a 19-12 advantage on shots, while edging the Seahawks (7-1-3) in corner kicks, 5-3.
Senior Marie Oben (Glenn Dale, Md./St. Mary's, Annapolis) finished the afternoon with seven saves in the loss for St. Mary's.
Junior Allison Lennox (Springfield, Va./Robert E. Lee) picked up a pair of saves in 70 minutes of action, while freshman Bethany Bayles (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) played in 20 minutes of relief.
The Seahawks hope to get back in the win column this Saturday, October 18 when SMCM hosts York (Pa.) College in a key Capital Athletic Conference match-up at 3:00 in Seahawk Stadium in conjunction with the Hawktober Festival.
