Eagles Fly Past Chatham

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Sophomore Sarah Ruggiero (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) scored twice and three other Eagles scored once each to lead the Juniata College women's soccer team to a 4-1 win over Chatham University, Thursday evening in Pittsburgh.
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uniata improved to 4-1 overall with the road win, which launched a stretch where Juniata must play four of its next five contests away from Huntingdon. As if the mid-week road game wasn't enough to contend with, Juniata had to play on Chatham's less-than-regulation sized field that measured 60 x 90 yards -- far less than the NCAA minimum of 65 x 110 yards.

"Our early schedule this season was designed to force us into adverse situations and environments, and this was one of those games," said Juniata head coach Scott McKenzie. "We're figuring out how to win in front of somebody else's crowd and in situations that are less than ideal, and that will help us in the post-season. I was very pleased with our effort tonight."

Ruggiero opened the scoring in the game's fourth minute when she finished a corner kick from Caitlin Bigelow (La Mesa, Calif./Academy of Our Lady of Peace). Freshman outside back Laura Fisher (Myerstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon County) scored her first collegiate goal, and what proved to be the game-winner, in the ninth minute, and Ruggiero padded the in the 17th minute with a goal on which Fisher was credited with the assist.

Freshman Katie Young (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) notched her fourth goal of the season with an unassisted score in the 30th minute, rounding out the scoring for Juniata.

"Our girls worked very hard in the last few days, and they looked as confident as they could be playing on a field that small," said McKenzie.

"I give full credit to Chatham - there's no quit in them. They're going to get better."

Chatham spoiled Juniata's bid for its third shutout of the season when Chrissy Fiori took advantage of a defensive breakdown by the Eagles, and had a solid finish to score the goal.

All three Juniata keepers saw action Thursday night, with senior Lisa Russo (Haskell, N.J./Lakeland) getting the start and earning the win over 37 minutes of action. Juniata outshot Chatham 32-4, and had a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks. Chatham was whistled four times for offsides.

Juniata returns to action on Sunday, Oct. 16, when they face Rutgers University-Newark at 1:00 p.m. in Newark, N.J.