Esparza, Seahawks Snap Four-Game Losing Skid
St. Mary's City, Md. - Senior midfielder Sophia Esparza (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) notched a goal and an assist in helping the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's soccer team halt its losing streak at four with an important 3-1 Capital Athletic Conference victory over Wesley College Saturday afternoon.
Freshman midfielder Tori Eskay (Damascus, Md./Urbana) scored her first career goal at 21:55 as Eskay dribbled past freshman goalkeeper Sydney Kahan (Cranston, R.I./Cranston) and found the back of an empty net after Kahan came out to make a play on the ball.
Eskay's goal was the difference in the first half as the Seahawks (3-5, 2-1 CAC) carried a 1-0 lead into intermission.
Sophomore midfielder Lacey Smith (Logan Twp., N.J./Kingsway Regional) placed a pass in the middle of the box where freshman forward Samantha Hannibal (Baltimore, Md./Loch Raven) converted the feed to knot the game at 1-all at 65:10.
St. Mary's regained its one-goal lead just two minutes later on a corner kick as freshman midfielder Carly Harmon (Davisburg, Mich./Holly) took the kick, Esparza flicked the ball to the far post and senior forward Erika Kenny (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) put the finishing touches on it.
Esparza sealed the win with an unassisted goal at 81:12 as she fired in a shot from about 25 yards out and the ball cruised in just underneath the crossbar.
Freshman goalkeeper Grace Koplow (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake) recorded her first career victory as Koplow allowed just one goal and made four saves.
Kahan notched 10 saves and three goals against in the loss.
St. Mary's dominated both shots and corner kicks as the Seahawks posted 31 shots and six corner kicks to Wesley's (3-5, 0-3 CAC) 13 and two, respectively.
The Seahawks will return to action next Tuesday, September 29 as St. Mary's entertains Catholic University in a non-conference tilt at 4:00 pm.
