CLARION, Pa. --- Tessa Heffron converted a corner kick into a goal in the 76^th minute and then assisted on another, as the Golden Eagles soccer team claimed a 2-0 win over California (PA) on Senior Night.
 
Clarion carried the play for most of the game, in particular the second half when they out-shot the Vulcans 4-1 in terms of shots on net. Things came to a head – figuratively and literally – in the final 15 minutes, when a pair of corner kicks led to Golden Eagles goals.
 
The first came in the 76^th minute, when the predominance of Clarion possession led to a corner kick from Nicole Brown. Brown lifted a ball to the left side of the box and Heffron finished off it off, heading it past Emily Ouimet and breaking the scoreless tie.
 
Heffron factored into Clarion's second goal of the night as well, as Reese Aquilio provided an insurance tally with roughly five minutes to play. Brown set up for a corner kick from the exact same spot, and Heffron once again headed the ball toward the goal mouth. Ouimet was warm to the task that time, stopping the ball but allowing the rebound to come to Aquilio. Aquilio pushed the ball past Ouimet for the score, giving her side a 2-0 lead.
 
Those goals helped prop up a shutout for senior Alex Velez, the sixth of her career and the first of the season. The senior keeper made five saves, with four of those coming in the first half as the Golden Eagles carried the play in the Vulcans' zone in the second.
 
The first half was back-and-forth as both sides had significant scoring opportunities, but neither was able to convert those chances. Alex Velez made a number of outstanding saves in the first half, stopping four shots on goal in six total attempts by the Vulcans. Her first save came in the 12^th minute, when she came out of the net to cut down the angle on Meja Haakansson and stopped her shot near the top of the box. Three minutes later Velez punched out a ball shot by Haakansson from distance on another leaping play.
 
Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles were able to carry some offensive momentum of their own, pressuring the Vulcans' defense in the first half. That culminated in their best scoring opportunities of the half, when they got the ball in deep and earned a pair of corner kicks. Neither attempt yielded a dangerous attempt, though, and the teams remained scoreless after 45 minutes.
 
Madison Rose enjoyed an early scoring opportunity in the second half, blasting a shot from the left that forced Ouimet to dive to her right for the save. Hailey Dobb had an opportunity one minute after, blasting a shot that went high and clipped the football goalpost. Rose had another dangerous attempt in the 64^th minute, forcing Ouimet to leap and punch the. Ball over the net, and on the ensuing corner kick the Golden Eagles just missed on a header attempt.
 
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