Saint Leo Hands Tritons Their First Loss of Season

Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Despite a valiant effort from the Eckerd Triton women's soccer defense, the front line of the Saint Leo Lion offense proved to be a little too difficult to contain on Wednesday night.

Arielle Kabangu used her size to set up a goal and score a goal, and it was enough to give the Lions a 2-0 win over Eckerd in the Sunshine State Conference opener for both teams.

The 5-foot-10 Kabunga held off two defenders in the 56th minute to send a cross in front of the goal to Genevieve Gignac, who was able to finish past EC keeper Angelique Ulmer to end the stalemate.

Fifteen minutes later, Kabunga set herself up dribbling from the right side into the center of the box and using her physical presence to create enough space for a rocket to the right post that made the score 2-0 and gave SLU a cushion it wouldn't end up needing.

That's not to say, though, that the Tritons didn't have their chances.

After Saint Leo controlled the run of play for the first 20 minutes, Eckerd even things out for the rest of the first half.  Taylor Tippett had a good look off a set piece just outside the box and curled it perfectly around the wall, but didn't quite get the ball high enough to elude the reach of SLU keeper Abby Evans.

Later in the half, EC got free on a counter-attack but a hard strike by Katie Shafer deflected off the lone defender between her and the goal.

Opportunities were harder to come by in the second half until the 75th minute when Eckerd suffered through another near miss.  Alice Wader touched a pass by her defender and carried it into the box on the right side.  Her shot was slowed by Evans, and Tippett narrowly lost a footrace against a Lion defender who managed to clear the ball before it made it to the goal line.

Shafer had EC's last true chance in the 88th minute when she struck a beautiful ball on a set piece from over 25 yards out, but it missed the crossbar by inches.

Ulmer was solid again in goal stopping nine shots - several at close range, including one that she punched off the crossbar in the first half to keep the match scoreless.

The Tritons (3-1-1, 0-1) hit the road for the first time this season on Saturday with a trip to Florida Tech.