ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd College women's soccer team celebrated the careers of four members from its senior class to close out the home portion of the regular-season schedule against Saint Leo University on Tuesday night, eventually falling by a final of 9-1.
In a ceremony prior to the game on Senior Night,
Caroline Bond,
Mia Whylly,
Kelly Coughenour and
Kelsey Pomerleau, were recognized for their contributions to the women's soccer program.
Saint Leo scored in various ways to begin the first half, including a penalty kick, corner kick and a rebound off the post, before the intermission
In the fourth minute, sophomore Mari Siegrist-Gabas was awarded a penalty kick after drawing a foul inside the box and netted her fifth goal of the season.
Just three minutes later, freshman Saffron Jordan scored the game-winning goal for the Lions.
Down 3-0, Eckerd continued to fight its way back, and in the 39th minute, sophomore
Abbey Walter connected on a pass from junior
Arie Anahory inside the box to notch her second goal on the season.
The assist was Anahory's team-leading fourth on the year.
But the Lions' height advantage was evident up front, and they would tab six more goals before the game concluded, including three goals from freshman forward Arielle Kabangu in the second half to bring her season goal total to an NCAA-leading 21.
Entering tonight's match, Kabangu was tied for third among all Division II players in goals.
All four Eckerd seniors saw playing time throughout the game, including Bond who made her season debut in between the posts.
Bond played just over 41 minutes in the match and collected three saves as sophomore
Christina Rosetti made her second career start.
Eckerd will conclude its regular season on Saturday as it travels to Miami Shores to face Barry University. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. EST.
