CLARION, Pa. --- Behind a pair of second-half goals from Evelyn Cook, the Golden Eagle soccer team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to stun IUP on Wednesday night, with Clarion topping the Crimson Hawks by a 3-2 score at Memorial Stadium.
 
The win marked the first for Clarion's first-year head coach Jason Edwards, and it came in dramatic fashion. The Crimson Hawks held a 2-1 lead after a pair of goals that came in quick succession in the first half, with Elle Smith and Kristen Finnerty scoring just 1:50 apart in the middle of the frame to take the advantage. IUP carried play through the remainder of the first half, with Golden Eagle goalkeeper Sage Sherk and the back line making a number of exceptional defensive plays to keep it just a one-goal game at the break.
 
The momentum swung back to the Golden Eagles in a hurry to start the second half, thanks to a chaotic corner kick that produced a series of high level chances. Senior Kylee Cross's lob into the fray in front of the net yielded shots on goal for herself as well as Reese Aquilio and Nicole Brown, but it was Cook who finished the play, collecting her own rebound and going left foot into the top-left corner of the net in the 52^nd minute.
 
From that point on Clarion seemed to carry possession and offensive chances, but the Crimson Hawks kept things at a stalemate while missing on a couple close opportunities of their own. The deciding tally came in the 89^th minute of play, and it was once again the freshman Cook that came calling. Defender Savannah Houk lobbed a long lead pass down the left sideline to Alyssa Aquilio, who lost the ball to a defender but at the last second was able to extend her right foot and tap a pass to Cook. The latter fired a hard, low shot into the lefthand corner to beat IUP keeper Vanessa Berlin and secure the win.
 
The Golden Eagles struck in the game, with former IUP Crimson Hawk Sam Felder scoring against her old side to cap a flurry of inspired offensive play. Alyssa Aquilio played a part in that goal as well, chipping a short pass behind a defender onto the foot of a streaking Felder on the lefthand side. Felder bore down on Berlin and waited for the keeper to make her move, slipping the ball underneath her and into the net in the 20^th minute.
 
Clarion put more shots on net than IUP, topping them 11-10 in that category, while both goalkeepers were credited with eight saves.  
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