The Covenant women's soccer season opener could not have gone much better for the Lady Scots. Aided by four first half goals, Covenant routed Berea 5-0 at Scotland Yard on Saturday afternoon.
Not only did Covenant (1-0) blank Berea (0-1) on the scoreboard, but the Lady Scots also did not allow a single shot attempt from the Mountaineers.
Covenant held a 34-0 shot advantage and also had a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.
It was the first all-time meeting between the programs. Although Berea is a USA South member, the contest does not count towards league standings. The two teams will play again on
Oct. 7 in Berea, Ky.
Addy Cronan and Paige Simons each scored two goals to lead the way. Cronan got the scoring started in the 13th minute when she found the back of the net from the top of the box, assisted by Molly Kate McClearn, for her first Covenant score. The sophomore transfer then added the final goal of the contest in the 69th minute from the right side of the box.
Simons made her collegiate debut a memorable one.
Mere seconds after checking into the match, Simons was slotted a ball into the box from Cronan and out-ran the Berea defense before beating the keeper and putting the ball into the net to give Covenant a 2-0 lead. In the 38th minute, it was Simons again scoring from the right side of the 18-yard box, assisted by Megan Rasku.
Rebekah Gravitt notched the other goal for the Lady Scots. Gravitt's score came in the 32nd minute, as she cleaned up a shot from close range after a Rasku attempt was deflected by the keeper.
Rachel Lemay and Kayla Bailey combined for the shutout. Lemay went the first 76:25 at net before giving way to Bailey. Berea's Amber Follin made 11 saves on the afternoon in the loss.
Cronan led the way with seven shots taken, six on target, while Gravitt and Grace Bartelt had four apiece.
UP NEXT
Covenant hosts Belhaven on Sept. 7 at Scotland Yard. Match time is set for 7 p.m.