SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo women’s soccer (2-0) offense was firing on all cylinders Saturday evening, as they defeated the Florida Memorial Lady Lions, 5-0, in its non-conference home opener. In total, the home standing Lions had seven different players tally at least one point.
Karin Hedlund led the offensive charge again, totaling three points on a goal and an assist. Meanwhile, midfielder Cassie Barberesi was deadly from the corner area, posting a pair of assists. The Lions also saw a quartet of Lions tally their first goals of the season.
Despite the final score, Saint Leo had a difficult time mustering offensive momentum in the early portions of the match. But the Lions were able to shake the pesky Florida Memorial defense in the 21st minute when Barberesi put a perfectly placed corner attempt into middle of the box and senior defender Dari Alcantara headed into the back of the net.
The Florida Memorial defense maintained its composure, however, as they held Saint Leo without another goal until the 55th minute. At that time, a penalty in the box allowed Hedlund the opportunity at a penalty kick which she rocketed into the lower-left corner to push the Saint Leo advantage to 2-0.
Over the course of the next 40 minutes, the Lions offense continued to wear down the Florida Memorial group. The Lions made the score 3-0 in the 72nd minute when Barberesi connected on her second corner, this time to the head of defender Aija Bent-Trinder.
Seven minutes later, Hedlund battled to break free away from defenders and from the left side of the penalty area found Courtney Kassab from nearly 12 yards out who struck the back of the net for the first time in 2010.
Chrissy Darwell made her long awaited debut in 2010, putting herself down in the score sheet with a goal. Darwell dribbled her away down the field, eventually finding teammate Ashley Acco near the right post. Acco fired a shot which was deflected back to Darwell who slotted it in under the diving ‘keepers’ hand to close out the scoring.
The goalkeeping duo of Audrey Bernier-Larose (2-0) and Kelcee Mai combined for the team’s first shutout in 2010, while the defense held a pivotal role in the victory, allowing just two shots for the entire night.
The Lions 2-0 start is their best start since the 2006 season when Saint Leo advanced to the NCAA semifinals.
The squad will return to the field on Friday, September 10 when they travel to the University of Tampa to take on Queens University in a non-conference, neutral site contest. Kick-off is set for 4:30 p.m.
