CLARION, Pa. —
Nadia Gill scored the first goal of her career and
Sage Sherk logged her sixth career shutout, helping Golden Eagle soccer defeat Pitt-Johnstown 1-0 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Golden Eagles finished with an 11-7 shot advantage and held the Mountain Cats to two shots on goal in the shutout.
The Golden Eagles honored their seniors in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, and it was two of those seniors who contributed directly to the win over the Mountain Cats. Gill gave the Golden Eagles the key breakthrough at 17:46, putting the home side ahead 1-0 off assists from
Samantha Gold and
Leah Deal. Clarion earned a corner shot after a strong offensive push, with Gold lifting a pass from the flag into the box. Deal headed it toward the ground where it ended up on the foot of Gill, who spun to her left and beat the keeper for the 1-0 lead.
On the other end of the field, Sherk was on top of the action against the Mountain Cats, handling all opportunities thrown her way, including a tense sequence early in the second half. She made saves on both shots that made their way to the net and the Golden Eagle defense did the rest, helping her put up her second clean sheet of the year.
Earlier, the Golden Eagles generated chances through
Nathalie Twigg and
Sofia Barba, while the Mountain Cats created pressure with two corner kicks inside the first 10 minutes.
Sage Sherk helped protect the lead in the 26th minute, saving Kaitlyn Pavusek's shot to the bottom right, and the Golden Eagles also saw the Mountain Cats' Rylee Fry have an effort blocked shortly after. The half ended with the Golden Eagles holding the 1-0 advantage.
The Golden Eagles kept the Mountain Cats off the board throughout the second half, closing out a 1-0 result after a scoreless final 45 minutes. Earlier, the Golden Eagles opened the half with a
Lexi Shattahi shot in the 47th minute, then absorbed two UPJ attempts from Nicole Hawk shortly after the 52-minute mark. The Golden Eagles generated a concentrated push from the 63rd through 68th minutes, with
Leah Deal forcing a team save,
Sydney Taracatac,
Nadia Gill, and
Evelyn Cook adding attempts, and
Ciara DiMauro putting a shot on frame before a corner kick followed at 67:52. UPJ created a late chance in the 86th minute, but
Sage Sherk saved Marissa Mackey's shot, and the Golden Eagles added two more shots in the final three minutes to see out the win.
