Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics
NEWBERRY — The Newberry Wolves women’s soccer team (4-7-1, 3-4 South Atlantic Conference) claimed their third SAC victory of the season in their match against the Coker Cobras. The final score was 2-1.
The Wolves took the first seven shots of the match, three of which were on goal. That seventh shot, which came in the 18th minute from graduate forward Jackie Aldrete (Oxnard, Calif.) somehow crossed the goal line as it slowly rolled in for a goal.
Newberry was knocking on the door again, just two minutes later after a shot from sophomore defender Allyna Gonzalez (Uvalde, Texas) was off target, but last touched by the Cobras’ goalkeeper, resulting in a corner kick for the Wolves. However, they failed to convert this opportunity into a goal, and the lead remained at one goal.
The Cobras would not go down without a fight and scored the equalizing goal in the 39th minute of the match. The quarter went back and forth mostly away from the goals. After the Coker goal, only two shots were taken in the first half, both by Coker.
Despite the Cobras taking those final two shots of the first half, the Wolves outshot the Cobras 10-7 in the first half. Even with the shot advantage, the score remained tied at 1-1.
The Wolves came out from halftime with the right adjustments to command the game in the second half, only occasionally allowing Coker control of the ball.
The Wolves took 18 shots in the second half and only allowed the Cobras three shots of their own. Four of the Wolves seven corner kicks in the second half came from between the 68th minute and the 86th minute, each time with a Newberry shot that followed.
It wasn’t until the 86th minute that the Wolves would capitalize on these corner-following shots when junior forward Ariana Paez (Blythewood) scored the go-ahead goal off of an assist from senior forward Ashlee Rotert (Kent Island, Md.).
Once the Wolves regained possession, they ran out the final few minutes of the match to claim victory over the Cobras, 2-1.