Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
5-6-1 (2-1-1PL)
Loyola Maryland
4-7-1 (0-3-1PL)
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loyola | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Army | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Holder Lifts Army Past Loyola, 1-0
October 04, 2014 | Women's Soccer
The Black Knights (5-6-1, 2-1-1 PL) controlled the ball throughout 90 minutes of play as they outshot the Greyhounds 18-11 and held an 11-4 corner kick advantage. In spite of holding a 13-2 lead in shots and a 10-2 corner kick advantage in the first half, Army headed into the halftime break scoreless.
That didn't last long as Holder connected on her first shot of the second half and seventh of the game when she booted her game winning goal just outside the 18 into the opposite right corner of the net for her fifth goal of the year and second game winner. Senior Mallory Herron assisted on the play in picking up her second assist of the season.
Shortly after Holder's goal, her fourth of the season at Clinton Field and second in Patriot League play, freshman Madison McGinnn fired a shot on goal at the Greyhounds net for the first of three second half saves by Colleen Folan, who finished with five.
"I like playing at home," said Holder, who leads Army in scoring and ranks among the Patriot League's leaders as well. "Mallory was inside the 18 and she laid the ball back to me and I finished it off.
"We need to keep this momentum with us as we are on the road next week at American, which will be tougher, but we are looking forward to it and having a long week of training to get ready."
Cassalia, who is ranked No. 12 nationally in saves in the latest NCAA statistics, made six stops in the second half to include denying Charlotte Miller's back-to-back attempts over a two-minute span late in the game.
McGinn, earning her first start of the season, fired Army's final shot and her fifth of the game in the 83rd minute. Just over a minute later, Cassalia made her final save, denying Riley Piechnick, in recording Army's first shutout of the season.
"It meant a lot to me to get the shutout," said Cassalia, whose grandfather was among the 600-plus fans in attendance. "But more importantly, it meant more to our team as a whole because we just needed this game. We needed to win and we needed a shutout to bounce back from the Colgate game (5-0 loss), and I think we did that tonight.
"Each game we are getting better, and right now we played our best soccer the first half than we have all season. We can only go up from here."
The victory is Army's first over Loyola, who joined the Patriot League last year, after opening the series with a 1-1 overtime draw in Baltimore Md.
Head coach Marcia McDermott was "pleased with the way we responded and that it showed great character on our part." The second-year mentor felt Army had played its best soccer all season in the first half.
Late in the game, the fans and players were treated to fireworks from across the river that lighted the skies at Clinton Field.
Army is tied for fourth place in the Patriot League standings with Navy and Bucknell as all three have 2-1-1 marks for seven points. The Black Knights defeated the Bison, 2-1, and play the Midshipmen Oct. 31 in Annapolis.
Colgate is the leader with a 3-0-1 mark for 10 points following a tie with Navy today. Boston University and Lehigh share second place with 2-0-2 marks and eight points.
Army is back on the road next week (Oct. 11) when it heads to our nation's capital to take on American, while its next home game is against Princeton on Oct. 14 in the Black Knights' final non-conference matchup.
Team Stats
Holder, Katie
Assisted By: Herron, Mallory
shot outside 18 into right side of net
52:37
