Women's Soccer Records Big Win Over Lebanon Valley 2-0

(box score)

Julia Flower (Burlington, CT) assisted fellow senior Karen Thomas (Mullica Hill, NJ) on her 17th goal of the year to help Widener defeat Lebanon Valley, 2-0, in a Commonwealth Conference match at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium.

Widener (14-2-3, 4-2-2 CC) and Lebanon Valley entered into Tuesday's contest in a direct fight for a spot in the conference tournament. With the win, the Pride sit fourth in the league with the top five teams advancing to the league tournament. Widener can advance to the conference tournament with a win or a tie Saturday at Elizabethtown. It also can advance with a Stevenson loss to Alvernia or a Lebanon Valley loss to Arcadia.

At the start of the game, Lebanon Valley looked to be in control, but Widener started to come alive at the end of the first half. The Dutchmen led the Pride in shots and corners at the break but the score remained 0-0.

In the 47th minute, at the start of the second half, Flower received the ball inside the Widener defensive half. Flower dribbled the ball down the field and then hit a long arching pass that flew over the heads of the Lebanon Valley defense. Thomas made a break for the ball and was able to win the foot race over the Dutchmen defenders. Goalkeeper Becca Sykes came out to close down the angles, but Thomas hit the ball around the goalie and found the right-side netting to give the Pride the 1-0 lead. Thomas leads the conference with 17 goals with only one game remaining in regular season play.

Ten minutes later in the 57th minute, a foul was called on a Dutchmen midfielder 10 yards outside the Lebanon Valley box on the right side. Flower took the free kick that drifted all the way to the far post on the left side, where junior Jenna Pedrick (Sicklerville, NJ) was running in with a defender by her side. Pedrick went to deflect the ball in but the defender did the job for her, and Widener took the 2-0 lead off an own goal.

The victory also was the Pride's ninth at home this season (9-1-1), tying the school record accomplished in 1995 (9-2).

Coach Brian Sheehan said of the win, "Today was a total team effort. Val was awesome in goal once again." Senior goalkeeper Valarie Perretti (Clayton, NJ) finished with 11 saves to complete her 11th complete game shutout of the season.

Defenders, senior Victoria Batter (Woodlyn, PA) and juniors Stephanie Dickinson (Sicklerville, NJ) and Martha Lowitz (Philadelphia, PA), did the job of shutting down one of the top scoring offenses in the conference.

With the victory, Widener completes its 12th team shutout of the year to break the school record set back in 2008.

The match Saturday at Elizabethtown starts at 2:00 pm.

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