BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College women's soccer team improved its record to 2-3 after scoring a 5-0 shutout over Neumann University on Tuesday afternoon on the HUB Quad.
Junior forward Kirsten Schall scored her team-leading fifth and sixth goals to open the Greyhounds' offensive onslaught, and added an assist on freshman midfielder Marissa Martin's first career goal in the 81st minute.
Another first-ever goal belonged to sophomore Micaela Kwochka, who cleaned up a rebound in the six-yard box for a 3-0 Moravian lead. The sophomore also added an assist on the Greyhounds' next goal scored by sophomore defender Taylor Blake.
"I'm really excited," said Kwochka, who then immediately turned the attention to her teammates. "I just want to keep scoring goals like that to help my team win. I think we're playing very well together. We have a lot of young players, like me, and we're adding a lot of confidence to this team. This is just the next step to becoming conference champions."
Recording a clean sheet defensively is another great tool in building confidence in a team, especially for the club's goaltenders. Senior Genevieve Chaleff had two saves and sophomore Jacqueline Zalis had one as the keeper duo registered Moravian's first shut out of the season.
Head Coach Brienne Smith said the squad is celebrating two victories this evening. One is a 5-0 victory. The other is creating the opportunity to rest and to get some players valuable experience on the pitch.
"It was so nice to get everybody in the game," Smith said. "We had players that hadn't seen the field yet, and one of them scored a goal. It was good for them to get some time and some experience. It was also nice to get some rest. We've been playing some pretty physical battles over the past two weeks, so the rest was much needed."
Moravian methodically built a first-half lead which allowed them to make some lineup changes up 4-0 at the break. Schall continued her excellent start to the 2013 season with two more goals, her second straight multi-goal game.
The junior striker cleaned up a loose ball emphatically in the 14th minute, and added another in the 23rd when senior forward Caroline Clark's shot was saved by the Knight's keeper and Schall put the rebound away for the 2-0 lead. It was Clark's first assist of the season, but the senior wasn't done yet.
Clark very easily could have scored two goals. She was credited with a second assist after another shot off her foot was saved in the 29th minute and rebounded to a waiting Kwochka, who put the Greyhounds up 3-0.
Kwochka was involved in a scoring play four minutes later when she played a drop pass to Blake, who bent a beautifully placed ball over the Neumann goalkeeper and into the side netting.
Martin finished the Greyhounds' impressive display when the freshman found herself on the receiving end of a patented Schall corner kick. Martin placed a strong inside-of-the-foot shot into the back of the net.
Smith was particularly enthused at Kwochka's display on Tuesday.
"That's a kid who gets after it," Smith said. "She loves the game so much and she's constantly asking how she can get better. From last season to this season, she's a different player. She has a physical presence and she's playing as a target for her teammates."
Moravian closes out a stretch of three home matches on Saturday when Centenary of New Jersey comes to the HUB Quad for a 1 p.m. start.
