Colombo Lifts Garnet Women Past Muhlenberg 2-1
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Even with two of the program's top offensive career records now in her rear-view mirror, there seems to be little that can stop Megan Colombo these days.
The Garnet senior forward scored two goals in a four-minute span in the first half to lead the streaking Swarthmore College women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Muhlenberg on Wednesday evening from Clothier Field Stadium.
Colombo scored two goals in four minutes for the Garnet.
The victory is the Garnet's fourth consecutive and puts the squad into a first-place tie atop the Centennial Conference standings with four conference games remaining.
For Colombo, the performance is her third-consecutive multi-goal effort, as she has scored seven goals over the last three games. With the nine goals for the season, she ties a personal season high.
The final scoreline was not indicative of the Garnet's total domination of play for much of the night. Playing perhaps with a chip on its shoulder after last season's 2-1 loss to the Mules in Allentown, the Garnet offense imposed its will on the Mules' defense from the get-go, shooting a staggering 31 shots for the game - 22 of which came in the first half. Maybe even more impressive was the efficiency of the Garnet's shooting, as 17 of the 31 shots were on goal and three clanged off the goalpost.
Swat came out on a mission from the start, firing 10 shots within the first 20 minutes of play while maintaining possession for virtually that entire time-frame to keep the Mules' defense back on its heels. Still, the Garnet found it difficult to complete the job, as a combination of great goalkeeping from Muhlenberg's freshman netminder Michele Toher and just plan bad luck - such as freshman Megan Brock finding the post on two breakaways - kept Swarthmore off the scoreboard.
Then in a four-minute span, everything changed thanks to Colombo.
She scored goals in the 28th and 32nd minutes - both of which came off loose balls in front of the Mule net - to quickly give Swarthmore a 2-0 lead. Her first goal was set up after freshman Aly Passanante collected a free ball out of a mad scramble in front of the goal and fed it to an open Colombo, while the second came when Colombo corralled a ball that deflected of a Mule defender in the box.
While Swarthmore continued to dominate the play - nearly scoring just moments into the second half when Passanante struck the crossbar - the game remained 2-0 into the late stages of the second half.
Around the 70 minute mark, Muhlenberg finally showed some signs of life, culminating in a near-post goal by C.J. CJ Graetzer in the 76th minute off a corner kick to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Despite some tense moments from that point forward, Swarthmore clamped down, reversed the momentum and took control of the contest. Swat maintained possession over the final five minutes of play, running out the clock to earn the important 2-1 win.
Despite the defeat, Toher was incredible in net for the Mules, making 15 saves to keep her team in the contest until the final whistle. In goal for the Garnet, junior Marie Mutryn made three saves.
For the game, the Garnet held substantial advantages in shots (31-7), shots on goal (17-3) and corner kicks (6-1).
Swarthmore heads out of conference for the final time this weekend with a trip to Stevenson this Saturday. Action is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.