CLARION, Pa. --- Carly Fairchild scored her first career goal in the second half, but the Golden Eagle soccer team was unable to slow a high-powered Gannon attack in falling by a 4-1 score to the Golden Knights at Memorial Stadium on Wednesday evening.
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Gannon peppered the Golden Eagles with shots, firing off 18 – nine on net – and playing much of the game in Clarion's end of the field. The Golden Knights' Gabby Boden notched two quick goals in the first half to put her team ahead by a pair. The first came in the seventh minute of action, when she slid to her right and pushed it against the grain past goalkeeper
Alex Velez, who was shadowing her to that side. Boden's second goal came from distance, as she arced a long shot over the hands of a leaping Velez for the tally in the 12
th minute.
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The Golden Eagles best scoring opportunity of the night was the one they cashed in on, though, and it started with a strong bit of possession by
Ciara DiMauro in the 60
th minute. The freshman beat Gannon's Hannah Shepard in the right corner of the offensive end, with Shepard checking DiMauro to the ground for a foul.
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Nicole Brown was called upon to take the ensuing free kick for the Golden Eagles, with the junior midfielder delivering a low line drive kick into traffic. The ball made its way to Fairchild, who continued toward the goal mouth without truly corralling the ball at her feet. But forward she went, eventually advancing it past goalkeeper Morgan Sinan to cut Gannon's lead in half.
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Clarion would have another opportunity to score on a free kick from nearly the exact same spot in the 72
nd minute. Still trailing 2-1, Clarion's
Emily Mannion took a hard foul in the righthand corner, setting up a free kick for
Kylee Cross. Cross sent a good ball into traffic but Gannon was able to clear it to halt the scoring chance.
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The Golden Knights responded with two more goals for insurance, starting with Logan Nicklas scoring off a centering pass by Paige Taylor to make it 3-1. Leah Bermudez made it 4-1 with a header off a corner kick by Taylor to set the final deficit.
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