Rivera’s Brace, Berry’s Helpers Drive Women’s Soccer Past Averett in Home Finale
Defense permits just three shots in blowout of ODAC rival
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications
GREENSBORO, N.C. – In their final showdown on the Appenzeller Field turf at the Armfield Athletic Center of the 2024 regular season, the Guilford College women’s soccer team got a brace from Mya Rivera (Parrish, Fla.) to blast Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) rival, Averett University, 5-0, on Wednesday evening.
Collecting three points, the Quakers lock themselves in as top-five seed entering the ODAC Tournament next week, but do not rise in the standings with other results around the conference, still standing at fifth with a record of 12-3-2, 6-2-1 against ODAC opponents. The Cougars needed a win to keep their season alive, but instead finalize their fall at 4-9-3, 3-6-1 against conference competition.
Ady Franken (Peoria, Ill.) went unchallenged on the night, facing just three shots off frame over 75 minutes of play to improve to 10-3-2. Madison Musgrave (Lexington, N.C.) finished off the final 14 minutes in net, but did not see any shots. Tiia Chrons got the nod and played 81 minutes facing 18 of the 19 GC shots on the evening, and all seven on goal, allowing five tallies against two saves to fall to 2-5-1 before Tiffany Hargett finished off the final eight minutes.
Rivera led the offense, compiling two goals, including the game-winner, and an assist to finish with a career-high five points for the hosts. Kylee Berry (Kernersville, N.C.) was terrific distributing the ball as well, with two assists for GC who also received tallies from Naomi Anderson (Youngsville, N.C.), Carmen Ellis (Johnson City, Tenn.), and Mya Jarvis (Clemmons, N.C.). Ashlyn Miller (Charlotte, N.C.) and Ainsley Yates (West End, N.C.) each had helpers. Isobel Evans, Hailey Juhasz, and Erika Lindstrom all took shots for AU.
Guilford took command of the tempo in the match’s early stages, prodding the Cougar defense, but it took time for them to break through. Settled into their defensive end, Berry found a hole, launching a ball perfectly over the top of the defense down the center of the pitch. Rivera tracked it down on one hop just inside the top of the 18’ out-muscling the defender and used her left foot to slip it past the charging Chrons into the bottom-left corner of the net to claim the lead with what ended up as her first game-winner of the year, in the 19th minute.
It took just a few moments for the sophomore to make it a brace, as Yates controlled on the left wing. She sent a fantastic feed towards the middle of the pitch that Rivera chased down, beating the defender to the ball, and redirected it from horizontally across the field, to vertically up it. In the process, she split a pair of defenders, got some space, and got another one-on-one with the keeper almost in the same spot, going to the bottom right for the second time in the 25th minute.
While their only looks on frame were their goals, GC out-shot AU 10-3 in the opening half that was pretty clean with five combined fouls and two corners.
The Quakers broke away in the second half as their defense stiffened, not allowing a shot in the stanza, and their offense got rolling for a stretch. Berry hit Anderson just over mid-field, with the graduate student turning off the defender, and getting a long run down the right wing, making a move on a couple of defenders, and eventually getting beyond the six-yard box straight-away. She would use her left foot to come back to the lower-left to score the third GC tally.
The hosts tacked on another in the 63rd minute, with Miller working down the right side on a little give-and-go action with Anderson. Getting to it about eight yards away, but approaching the boundary, and in perfect positioning for a cross. Her dish through the six missed the foot of the first Quaker, Yates, but Ellis did not miss it on the back post, tapping it home from point-blank range for her second score of the season.
GC completed the scoring 125 seconds later. Off a corner, the Quakers had their first feed denied, but Berry, who took the corner, collected the ball in almost the same spot as where Miller had it just moments prior. She stepped up and sent another cross through the box where Rivera sent a little back-pass to Jarvis who tipped it off the post and home on the weak side to finalize the score at 5-0.
The Quakers head north for their regular season finale next, making the trip up to Lexington, Virginia for a clash with No. 9 Washington & Lee University on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1:00 PM.
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