MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg unleashed a flurry of offensive firepower in the team's 12-0 blanking of Valley Forge Christian in front of a hometown crowd on Thursday evening, Sep. 5. Senior Kara Hoy (Camp Hill, Pa. / Camp Hill), junior Hannah Jorich (Middletown, Pa. / Middletown Area) and sophomore Fay Ansary (Hummelstown, Pa. / Hershey) scored two goals apiece and the Lions outshot the Patriots by an impressive 31-2 margin.
Ansary got the scoring started by corralling a loose ball, making a nice move in front of the Valley Forge net and striking her shot past Patriot goalkeeper Amanda McGinness in the match's 10th minute. Jorich got into the action and notched her first goal of the season less than three minutes later. After numerous close calls in the season's first two outings, sophomore Rachel Shetler (Pequea, Pa. / Penn Manor) added an emphatic and well-deserved score in the 22nd minute. Freshman Melanie Snyder (Boyertown, Pa. / Boyertown) added the assist.
Junior Fatoumata Camara (Riverdale, Md. / Northwestern) picked up her first point of the year when sophomore Kristin Peckman (Chambersburg, Pa. / James Buchanan) dribbled the ball down the right side and made a well-placed cross through the Valley Forge box in the 32nd minute. Camara gathered the ball and did the rest. Jorich upped the Lions' lead to 5-0 in the 39th minute when she struck a ball so hard it deflected off a charging McGinness and spun backwards into the Patriot net.
The Blue & White kept its foot on the gas after halftime. Following the break, it took Hoy just 38 seconds to fire home her first goal of the evening. Four minutes later, sophomore Diandra Soto (Mountville, Pa. / Milton Hershey) stretched the lead to 7-0 thanks to her first goal of the fall. In the 55th minute, sophomore Mae-Lynn Gonzalez showed off her tenacity when she bowled through the Patriot defensive line and put her first score of 2013 past Valley Forge goalie Taniyah Faison.
Hoy worked up from her defensive position and recorded her second goal of the night a minute and a half later and freshman Nicole Luttrell dribbled the ball down the left sideline past the Penn State Harrisburg bench and (Hershey, Pa. / Hershey) notched her first collegiate goal in the match's 68th minute. Newcomer Nicole Hurst capped the contest's scoring and sealed the Lions' win with her point in the 82nd minute.
Penn State Harrisburg was the offensive aggressor from the get-go and controlled the tempo all game long. Of the home team's 31 shots, 25 of them were on target. The Lions' defense was also stout. Valley Forge struggled mightily to cross midfield with the ball under control and the Patriots mustered just one shot on goal all night. Thanks to the play of Shetler, Hoy, Peckman, Luttrell, junior Danell Engle (Halifax, Pa. / Halifax), freshman Kelsey Crum (Biglerville, Pa. / Bendersville) and the rest of the Blue & White backs and defenders, Penn State Harrisburg keeper Mackenzie Gates (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) needed to make just one save to preserve the shutout.
After defeating Delaware Valley in last week's season opener and Valley Forge on Thursday night, Penn State Harrisburg now sits at 2-0 on the fall. The Lions will look to keep their momentum rolling when they travel to Mount Aloysius for their next match this Saturday, Sep. 7.