West Palm Beach, FL – The fifth-ranked Patriots women's soccer team battled until the final whistle displaying stifling defensive, while a late goal from Latizia Traversone secured the 1-0 win over top-ranked Keiser Saturday morning. With the win, UC improves to 6-0-2, while the Seahawks move to 4-1-0 on the year.
Morgan White made seven saves for Cumberlands earning her fourth clean sheet of the season.
Madison Long added a second half team save, while
Samantha Sokolove,
Noah Paalman, and
Karla Waibel kept pressure on the Keiser attack. Traversone netted her second goal of the season and finished the day with two shots.
Cumberlands looked for a quick strike as Laura Bosca put a header on frame, however it was saved keeping the match scoreless.
Morgan White came up with a save in her first opportunity in the 5'. The two teams traded possession until the 11' when White made a diving save to her left keeping the match scoreless. The Seahawks applied pressure to the Patriots backline over the next few minutes, however, UC rose to challenge capped off with a save from White as the match remained scoreless in the 28'. Mackenzie Longmuir and
Letizia Traversone both recorded shots in the final two minutes of the half, but a save by the Seahawks keeper sends the match into the break scoreless.
Both teams had a scoring chances early in the second half and in the 50' Juliette Charriez fired a shot, which deflected off a teammate before Keiser's goalie punched it over the crossbar. Keiser looked for the go-ahead goal in the 55' as Emilia Nilsson put a shot towards the back post, however,
Madison Long came in and made the team save keeping the match tied. The back-and-forth continued until the 69' when
Karla Waibel put a strong shot on frame, however, Mio Tanaka was there to grab it. In the 79', White made another diving save to her left keeping the match scoreless. Cumberlands defense blocked a shot, while White tallied her sixth save of the match with eight minutes remaining. The Patriots broke through in the 87' when
Noah Paalman pushed the ball forward, Traversone used her body to split the defense before putting a well place shot into the upper 90 of the goal, giving UC the 1-0 lead with 2:45 remaining. Keiser looked for the equalizer in the closing seconds, however, White was there to corral the ball and preserve the clean sheet.
UC held a 6-2 advantage over Keiser in the match. It marks Cumberlands first win over Keiser in program history and also marks UC's first regular season win over the top-ranked team in the NAIA Coaches Poll.
The Patriots will return to the pitch on Tuesday, September 16
th, when they return home to face (RV) Grace. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. at the UC Soccer Complex.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics. Please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.
