Box Score STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan women's soccer team battled visiting Penn State Behrend until the final horn but could not get past the Lions as the Lady Barons fell, 2-1, at home Saturday afternoon.
The two teams were knotted in a tight battle in the first 31 minutes of the game. Freshman keeper Glorianne Trippe came up with a pair of key saves for the Lady Barons to keep the game tied, 0-0. Megan Schwartz broke open the scoring for Penn State Behrend as she corralled a loose ball about 15 20 yards out and as she dribbled through the Franciscan defenders, Schwartz drew Trippe off of her line and scored in an empty net to give PSB a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute. Leah Morah attempt to give the Lions a 2-0 cushion into the break but Trippe turned her away and the score remained 1-0 at the half.
After a pair of offsides from the Lions, the Lady Barons took control of the ball. Franciscan built up its offense through the middle of the field and Megan Riederer lofted a ball into the 18-yard box from the far right for Megan Luiso and Luiso headed into the upper left hand corner to tie the game at 1-1 in the 56th minute.
The Lions sent a barrage of shots towards the Lady Baron goal over the next 20 minutes but Trippe kept the game tied with four saves. Jordan Oberlander accounted for two of the shots that Trippe saved and after her third attempt at the net, Oberlander sent a ball just out of Trippe's reach to give the Lions a 2-1 lead with less than 15 minutes to play.
Franciscan had a pair of chances with less than two to play with a pair of corner kicks but could not find the back of the net and the game ended 2-1 in favor of Penn State Behrend after Trippe made one final save.
The Lions led the Lady Barons in shots, 19-9, while the two teams each had three corner kicks.
Franciscan returns to action on Wednesday as the Lady Barons head to Penn State Altoona for a 5pm matchup.
