ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Dickinson women's soccer team got a first-half brace from
Bridget Merkel as well as solo tallies by
Lila Brown and
Norah Heacock to build up a 4-0 halftime advantage en route to a 4-1 conference win over Muhlenberg College at Varsity Field on Saturday afternoon. With the win and the Johns Hopkins victory over Ursinus the Red and White locked up the third seed in next week's Centennial Conference tournament.
First Half
- Dickinson was on it from the opening whistle recording four shots in the opening 15 minutes with the trio of Ava Prisco, Maddie St. Amand and Merkel all missing the mark.
- Then at the 20:30 mark, the Devils made it 1-0 as Joelle Ma played a pass to St. Amand who connected with Merkel for the finish past Dani Klingener.
- Nine minutes later Merkel completed her brace when Heacock linked up with Ma, before finding Merkel who bumped the margin to 2-0.
- In the 35th minute, Brown had a chance denied by Klingener, before the ball recycled back to Brown who found Heacock for the goal.
- After Maddie Kraft-Williams was unable to beat Klingener, Ma whipped in a corner kick to Brown who dispatched her shot into the net for a 4-0 advantage at the half.
- The Dickinson defense was outstanding over the opening 45 minutes as they did not allow a shot in the direction of keeper Pico Gray during the period.
Second Half
- Lauren Hollis took over between the sticks for the Red and White to open the frame and was quickly called into action shutting down Jaidyn Falcone twice.
- At the other end both Isra Khan and Madison Mobray were unable to ask a question of Klingener.
- Ava Burgess had a chance to extend the advantage in the 69th, but Klingener added another save to her tally.
- With 20 minutes to go Katey Van Kirk was brought on to replace Hollis and she would see six shots come towards her over the ensuing ten minutes, but Van Kirk was able to keep the cleansheet in tack.
- However, after Lauren Ervin was stopped by Klingener the Mules were able to ruin the Devils hope of a shutout when Anna May found Ava Millan with only 64-seconds remaining to set the 4-1 result.
Dickinson Top Performers
- Goals - Merkel (2), Brown and Heacock (1)
- Shots - Brown and Merkel (3), Ervin, Kraft-Williams, Ma, Mobray and Prisco (2)
- Saves - Hollis (2), Van Kirk (1), Gray (0)
Opponent Top Performers
- Goals - Millan (1)
- Shots - Falcone and Millan (3), Thran (2)
- Saves - Klingener (5)
Up Next
- With their third seed Dickinson (12-4-3, 7-2-1 Centennial) will host a Centennial Conference tournament first round matchup on Tuesday against sixth seed Washington College at Miller Memorial Field. Time will be announced on Monday.
