By: William Burns, Sports Editor
On Tuesday, November 5th, the Saint Leo University Women’s Soccer Team faced off against the Embry Riddle Eagles in their last match of the regular season. Coming into the match, Saint Leo held a record of six wins, nine losses, and one draw overall, and a four win and six loss conference record. Embry Riddle possessed an eight win, five loss, and one draw overall record, while having a six win, three loss, and one draw record in the conference. Embry Riddle was ranked fourth in the conference, while Saint Leo ranked seventh.
The Lady Lions came into the game as the underdogs, but realizing that this was their last game, pushed through the adversity, and knocked off the higher ranked team to end the season with a two-game win streak.
With only 60 fans in attendance, the Lady Lions had to create their own energy, which wasn’t hard considering this was the last game of the season. The whole match was a dogfight between the defenses, as neither team was able to take many shots on goal. However, freshman midfielder Nina Mueller was able to best the Embry Riddle defense and bury a shot in the top right corner of the net, just out of reach of the Embry Riddle keeper. The freshman was spotted by Carolina Solis-Deleon, who sent the pass up to Mueller, who then finished the play by finding the back of the net. This goal was almost ten minutes before the midpoint of the game and gave the Lady Lions a one to nothing lead, which eventually led them to winning the game.
Mueller stood out on offense for the night, as the freshman sent a total of three shots towards the goal, but only the one she made, was actually a shot on goal. For the night, the Lady Lions totaled six shots, with one shot on goal, and Embry Riddle had eight shots with two on goal.
Senior keeper Julia Ortiz capped off her career with a perfect game which included two saves to help the Lady Lions shut out the Eagles and end the season with a two-game win streak. Both teams had four corner kicks, but Saint Leo ended the game with nine fouls, as opposed to Embry Riddle’s, six. Solis-Deleon also had a strong showing, as she ended the night with two goals, and the lone assist on the team.
The Lions finished the season with a record of seven wins, nine losses, and one draw. This season was a major improvement compared to last season, where the Lady Lions won only three games, lost ten, and drew one. This seasons success could be credited to a clean sweep of the coaching staff, or perhaps the maturing of young players, and the addition of a talented young group of new players.
