WINTER PARK, Fla. (October 11, 2023) - The Rollins Tars scored early and often on Wednesday, walking away with a 3-1 win over Saint Leo in a non-SSC matchup between the usual rivals. With the win, Rollins improves to 5-4-3 while Saint Leo drops to 4-3-4.
Rollins came out on the hunt, earning two corner kicks in the first seventy seconds. Then, in the fourth minute,
Kayla Park somehow managed to squeeze through a trio of Saint Leo defenders and use the far post as a helper to score the first goal of the game. It was her eighth of the year, tying Park for the conference lead in goals.
The Tars took three more shots (one on target) before Saint Leo was able to get in the books with a chance of their own. Most of the first half saw the two teams trying to not only beat their defenders, but deal with a continuous rain that made the playing surface slick.
As the end of the half neared,
Blaire Pressley booted a ball to
Lexie Cooper. Using a nifty spin move, Cooper split two Lions defenders and raced towards the goal. She ripped a shot lower left, and the keep got a piece of it, but not nearly enough to stop the ball from going in the net, giving Rollins a 2-0 advantage at half.
Coming out of the break, not much changed. In the third minute of the second half, Bri Drayton found herself in the corner. After shedding her defender, she sent a cross to the middle of the box. A fantastic back heel touch from
Valeria Acevedo put the ball at the feet of
Ryland McGratty who ripped a laser for the Tars' third goal of the match.
For the remainder of the game, the Tars continued to attack the Lions defense, but were unable to add to their total. With less than three minutes to go, Saint Leo was able to score on a rebound to avoid the shutout, making the final of 3-1.
Next up for Tars is a road SSC match at Barry on Saturday, October 14. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
