BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's soccer team tried to rally from a three-goal deficit in the second half but the comeback fell short as the Greyhounds dropped a 4-2 Landmark Conference decision to visiting The Catholic University of America on the HUB Quad Saturday afternoon.
After two early shots by the Cardinals, the Hounds looked to take the lead. Junior midfielder Taylor Blake had a turnaround shot from the top of the 18-yard box that was just outside the left post in the 13th minute, and senior forward Kirsten Schall took a rising shot from 16-yards out in the 23rd minute that rose a little too much and just went overtime of the crossbar.
Catholic broke onto the scoreboard in the 31st minute, and Moravian junior goalie Jacqueline Zalis made two of her nine saves late in the half to keep it a 1-0 game at the intermission.
The Hounds had the first shot of the second half as sophomore defender Kylie Desjadon put a shot on the goal in the 48th minute. The Cardinals answered and scored on consecutive shots in the 55th and 57th minutes to build a 3-0 lead.
Moravian would answer back in the 60th minute when sophomore midfielder Valentina Margiottiello scored her third goal of the season as she found the goalie out of position and put a shot into the right side of the net.
Two and a half minutes later, the Hounds cut the deficit to one when Schall put a rebound in the net for her team-leading 12th goal of the season. Freshman defender Maria Manz picked up her first career assist on the play, taking a long shot that caromed of the crossbar to Schall's feet for the goal. Schall is now fourth by herself in the school record book with 31 career goals, and she became the fourth Greyhound to reach 80 career points.
The Hounds nearly tied the contest in the 76th minute when sophomore forward Melissa Walko fired in a sinking shot from the left side that the Catholic keeper made a diving save on. The ball fell to Margiottiello's feet but her shot chipped up over the crossbar.
Catholic finished off the scoring with a goal in the 86th minute.
The Greyhounds will return to action on Wednesday, October 8 in a non-conference match at Penn State-Berks beginning at 7:00 p.m.
