STEUBENVILLE, OH – Supported from the sidelines by their fellow students, the Lady Barons won a resounding 5-1 home-game victory over the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes.  

The FUS team took 18 minutes to move into scoring mode but they soon became an unstoppable force. In a lightening sixty-seven seconds, seniors Julia Cocozza, Ashley Ruttencutter and Jordan Byerly took the Geneva defense by storm.

Cocozza finished a cross from Byerly for the first goal, then crossed the ball to Ruttencutter who finished a second goal, and outplayed Geneva's goalie just forty seconds later, putting a third goal in the back of the net.

Ten minutes later, the Ruttencutter-Cocozza combo finished a fourth ball.  Finally, sophomore forward Susanna Almeida chipped another ball over the goalie and into the net in the forty-fourth minute.

At halftime, the score stood 5-0.   

"The girls came out in the beginning of the game and really executed a lot of the things that we practiced yesterday, so I'm really proud of them for doing that," Head Coach Clare McBane said.  "They played really, really well." 

Moving into the second half with a 5-0 lead, McBane changed her starting lineup in order to give younger players some game time.  The changes gave players the opportunity to practice under pressure. 

"It's always faster paced when you're in the game," McBane said. "And it's tricky coming into a game when you don't start, so the girls had that up against them.  A lot of girls were playing positions that either they hadn't played before or hadn't gotten a lot of game time to practice."

During the last ten minutes, four starters returned to the field.  Striker Cocozza moved into defense while defenders Monica Dawyot, Calene Dougherty, and Mary Duran moved up to offense.

"All three defenders came off and assured me that they would like to continue to play defense and not forward," said McBane.  "But it was an opportunity to be in the other person's shoes." 

As the girls jogged off the field after the game, the entire men's soccer team cheered. 

"We really appreciate the support people are showing us," senior forward Maura Kennedy said. "It's a great day to be a Baron."