The Elizabethtown College’s women’s soccer program has etched their place in the history books after their 300th victory on Tuesday night in Williamsport, Pa. The historic win came during the team’s game against Lycoming College.
“The 300th program win means so much for this team. It is an amazing accomplishment for us and a great way to end conference play,” sophomore Kaceyanne Cerankowski said.
The Blue Jays dominated the Warriors right from the start, scoring eight minutes into the game as junior Kendra Mancino found sophomore Trisha Clark on a breakaway to take a 1-0 lead. Etown continued to put pressure on Lycoming as Cerankowski scored twice in an eight minute span to put the Blue Jays up 3-0 heading into halftime. After 45 minutes, Etown held a 10 to one advantage over Lycoming in shots on goal, and a seven to two advantage in corner kicks.
The second half proved to be even more lopsided than the first one, with Etown outscoring Lycoming 5-0 in route to an 8-0 victory. The Blue Jays’ 19 shots on goal were their most since they had 22 against Immaculata University on Sept. 7.
Cerankowski, and sophomores Deanna Slater and Lauren Fredericks all scored two goals, with Clark and fellow sophomore Lauren Berry each scoring once.
Etown’s goalkeepers, sophomore Dana Robidoux and first-year Caitlin Matus, split time in goal, each playing one half and making one save each.
“No one besides the girls on our team can say that they were on the team when we reached 300 wins. Teams before us have helped us get to this point and we were able to accomplish it together,” senior Alex Topa said. “Some girls go through their four years without something really special to stamp their name on. I am lucky that I have something so special come out of my four years on the team.”
Etown, who is now 11-6 overall and 6-2 in the conference, took care of three Commonwealth Conference foes in the past week. After splitting their first four conference games, including losing the last two, the Blue Jays have rattled off four consecutive victories. A blowout win over Hood College on Homecoming Day began the current winning streak.
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, the Blue Jays found themselves in an instant classic with Stevenson University. The game totaled seven goals in 90 minutes of soccer, six of which came in the first 69 minutes of action. The final goal in the 88th minute proved to be the difference and gave Etown the big conference victory.
The two teams met in the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Conference tournament last season after a 1-1 tie in the regular season. The semi-final game ended in a deadlock 0-0 game, with Stevenson moving on to the championship game on penalty kicks.
Stevenson jumped on the board first with a goal in the 30th minute when Mackenzie Calhoun’s shot went passed Robidoux. Robidoux played all 90 minutes and faced five shots, making two saves. Stevenson’s one goal lead did not last long, as Slater’s cross found Cerankowski in the 33rd minute to tie the game at one apiece. Later, Cerankowski found the back of the net again in the 69th minute, her sixth of the season, to tie the game for a fourth time.
Slater, who assisted on Etown’s first goal of the game, also scored the final goal of the contest. Her fourth goal of the season gave the Blue Jays the 4-3 victory.
“After having two really tough games last year, it felt great to come out on top this season,” Cerankowski said. “We put up a fight and came back twice to get the win, which just showed how bad we wanted it.” Cerankowski was named Commonwealth Conference Player of the Week after her stellar performances this past week.
“Being named conference player of the week for the second time in my career feels really good,” Cerankowski said. “It’s a great confidence booster for me at a crucial part of the season.”
On Saturday, Etown once again found themselves in a tight game. This time the opponent was, Lebanon Valley College, one of the two teams in a three-way second place tie with the Blue Jays. LVC and Etown split a pair of goals in the first half, with the Blue Jays scoring in the 27th minute off the foot of Berry. The goal was her 14th of the season in 16 games.
Although the Blue Jays only scored once through the first 90 minutes of play, it was not due to lack of offensive chances.
All of those chances eventually paid off as Etown dominated in overtime, holding LVC without a shot. The Blue Jays managed five shots in the extra session, but none was bigger than the rebound opportunity for first-year Sydney Nester, who shot into a wide-open net in the seventh minute of overtime to give Etown the huge road victory.
Etown heads into their final game of the regular season in a two-way tie for second place with Arcadia University, who holds the tiebreaker in head-to-head competition. Saturday afternoon’s game against Widener University is scheduled for 2p.m. at Ira R. Herr Field.