STATE COLLEGE — It was Senior Night at Memorial Field on Sept. 30, and fittingly, all three eligible seniors scored goals in State College’s 9-0 victory over Chambersburg.
Seniors Heidi Egerer, Delaney Shaha and Jup Geurts all scored in the Mid Penn Commonwealth game, the first time this happened in program history.
Senior manager Marcus Bundro and injured player Samantha Trosko were also honored, but they did not see gametime action.
Egerer opened the scoring with a goal assisted by Brynn Pezalski just two minutes into the first quarter to give SC a 1-0 lead.
Then sophomore midfielder Reagan Dare took over.
Dare scored three straight unassisted goals, and by the 10-minute mark in the second quarter, SC already had a 4-0 lead. It was Dare’s second hat trick this season.
Penelope Kocher and Pezalski also added second-quarter goals, and the Lions roared into halftime with a 6-0 lead.
Senior Delaney Shaha put the Lions up 7-0 early in the third period and Olivia Walther would make it 8-0 in the fourth.
With 20 seconds remaining, senior exchange student Jip Geurts scored her first varsity goal and capped an impressive offensive showing for the Lions.
In total, State College had 19 shots compared to 6 from the Trojans. SC’s Cora Bierly
and Charley Goodstein combined for three saves on the day, and a total of 23 players saw varsity action for the Lions.
State College will try to capitalize on this momentum heading into a very tough matchup on Monday night as they host the 9-1 Falcons of Lower Dauphin at Memorial Field.
The Falcons defeated State College earlier in the season, 7-1, and although the Little Lions played a much more physical defense, Lower Dauphin still prevailed, 5-0, in the second matchup on Oct. 6.
The defense for State College held strong throughout the first half, getting some excellent play by defender Avery Fuller and another stellar performance in goal by SC’s Cora Bierly, but the Falcons took a 2-0 halftime lead.
Bierly faced a total of 25 shots on goal and came away with an impressive 20 saves by the end of the contest.
Lower Dauphin tallied two more goals in the third period to make it 4-0 and then finished scoring with a goal by Lily Rost in the fourth.
Rost finished the game with a three-goal hat trick and two assists.
The Lions refused to quit and continued to fight until the final whistle. In the waning seconds, SC’s Reagan Dare put a shot on goal but a defensive save by LD’s Kylie Wilt kept the Lions scoreless.
Lower Dauphin finished the night with 7 penalty corners and 25 shots on goal. State College had a total of 3 corners and 3 shots on goal. The Lions, now 5-8 overall and 4-7 in conference, will next meet the Mid Penn Conference leading Mechanicsburg Wildcats.
