Garnet Roll On Rams at Kick Classic
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The Garnet women continued to lord over Clothier Field, winning its 13th consecutive season opener with a resounding 5-0 win over Farmingdale State in the Swat Kick Classic Saturday evening.
Swarthmore (1-0) is host to the 13th edition one with the strongest field in years, including the Rams (2007 Skyline Champion and NCAA participant), Moravian Greyhounds (15-5-1 in 2007 with an appearance in the NCAAs) and Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks (2007 ECAC Metro Region Champions).
The Garnet had both ends of the field in control on in the first game, extending its home scoreless streak to four games (only one score in nine matches). In fact, its been six games since someone scored on Swarthmore, dating back to a 1-1 tie at Haverford. Clothier Field has also recently turned into a gold mind for the Garnet, averaging nearly three goals a game over the last eight home affairs.
Swarthmore All-Region forward Megan Colombo (Arcadia, Calif. / Arcadia) and running mate Sarah Reece (Manhattan Beach, Calif. / Mira Costa) combined for a pair of goals in the first half. The fleet Colombo ran down a feed from Reece and beat the Ram keeper on the left post just 10 minutes in and got loose in 34th minute, this time taking a Reece offering mid-stride before kissing one of the post for a 2-0 Garnet lead.
The Garnet out-shot the visitors 17-1 in the first period of play and continued pushing forward in the second.
Swarthmore freshman forward Samantha Song (San Francisco, Calif. / San Francisco University HS) and defender Laura Bolger '11 (Centerport, N.Y. / Harborfields) were the next pair on the dancing card, accounting for the three hometown goals in the second half. Song tallied her first collegiate goal in the 54th minute, (pictured) slipping through the Rams backline to collect a Bolger offering. She tucked the ball in the right side for a 3-0 lead and 12 minutes later slid past a defender, turned on the ball left-footed for a laser to the same corner. The final score came on a broken corner with midfielder Kirsten Peterson's (Fenton, Mich. / Powers Catholic) header setting up Bolger's over-the-shoulder volley into the far corner of the net. It was Bolger's first collegiate goal as well.
The five scores is the most by a Garnet squad in fourth-year head coach Todd Anckaitis' tenure and the highest for Swarthmore since a 6-1 win over Washington (Md.) in October 2003.
Garnet goalkeepers Lauren Walker '09 (Fallston, Md. / The Hotchkiss School [CT]) and Marie Mutryn '12 (Rexford, N.Y. / Niskayuna) combined for two saves on the shutout.
The nightcap belied conventional logic. The Ducks fired shots at will, accounting for a 29-6 advantage, yet it was the Greyhounds who made the best of its six efforts as freshman Arielle Caldas began her collegiate career with a double-overtime game-winner. The Moravian forward broke a 1-1 tie in the 107th minute, finishing off a pass from Alessandra Valdetara to give the Greyhounds (1-0) a season-opening victory.
Valdetara scored the opening goal of the muggy, and buggy, evening alongside Crum Creek, tip-toeing along the endline before finding a hole on the inside post at 19:10. The Ducks (1-0) tied the game early in the second half, when Salme Cook hammered a ball off her laces into the upper left at 55:37.
Moravian senior goalkeeper Caitlin Corrigan deftly kept SIT at bay, posting 10 saves.
The Swat Kick Classic resumes Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. with the Ducks facing the Rams, followed by the Garnet against the Greyhounds at approximately 5:00 p.m.
Swarthmore 5, Farmingdale State 0 BOX
Moravian 2, Stevens Inst. of Tech. 1 2OT BOX