Fortna leads women’s soccer to victory
Waynesburg faced a tough road match against Presidents’ Athletic Conference foe Chatham. The match was a back-and-forth battle won by Waynesburg by a final score of 3-2.
“It was a good match. It kept us on our toes,” said sophomore forward Melanie Byler. “It was good to get the win.”
Waynesburg opened the scoring 20 minutes into the match with senior forward/midfielder Karleigh Murphey’s third goal of the season.
Chatham clawed its way back into the match scoring a goal in the 31st minute, evening the score at one. The Cougars would then tally a go-ahead goal 10 seconds later. Both Chatham goals were scored by Skylar Benjamin, who netted her fifth and sixth goals of the year. Both tallies came off assists by Kassiana Poltis.
Waynesburg would tie the match in the 61st minute of play. Freshman midfielder Natalie Fortna finished off a header to deadlock the match at two. Netting the tying goal put a new life into the Yellow Jackets.
“The goal hyped us up,” said Fortna. “It renewed every player to pick up the intensity. We wanted to come home with the win.”
The reenergized Yellow Jackets took the lead for good at the 81st minute. Byler took a pass from Fortna and buried the ball into the back of the net for the third Waynesburg goal of the day. The tally was Byler’s eighth goal of the year which is good for the team lead.
“I got the perfect cross from Natalie Fortna,” said Byler. “It was an easy tap in for the goal.”
Senior goalkeeper Ciara Scott made seven saves to preserve the 3-2 win for Waynesburg.
Chatham led in several statistical categories. The Cougars outshot the Yellow Jackets by an 18-13 margin, with nine of Chatham’s 18 shots being on net compared to four of 13 for Waynesburg. Chatham also had a nine to four advantage in corner kicks.
“Chatham plays at a smaller field that lets you shoot when you get over half field,” said head coach Laura Heethuis. “This makes some of the shots not true shots. However we were able to weather the storm, take possession and take the match back.”
The win advanced the Yellow Jackets record to 6-8 overall, and 3-4 in the PAC. Chatham dropped to 8-6 with a 2-5 PAC record.
“We are happy to get the result on the road,” said Heethuis. “Chatham is a tough team and they play at a tough venue.”
“It was a good win,” said Murphey. “It will give us momentum and confidence heading into our last two matches.”
Following the 3-2 win, attention shifted to last night’s match against Grove City that was to be played past this week’s deadline. A Senior Day matchup with the Westminster College Titans to close out the regular season on Saturday now awaits the women.
The Titans enter the match sporting a 12-1-2 overall record accompanied by a 5-1-1 mark in PAC play. Westminster sits in third place behind Thomas More and Washington & Jefferson, who leads the PAC.
A strong defense paces the Titans, who are second in the conference in both goals allowed and shutouts. Westminster has only allowed six goals this season with half of those goals being allowed to Thomas More in a 3-0 defeat.
To upend the Titans, Waynesburg looks to score early and keep applying offensive pressure.
“We need to score first,” said Fortna. “If we don’t score first, everyone’s energy drops and that could hurt us. We need to come out firing.”
In addition to offensive pressure, the team wants to come into the match with a confidence they are certain will help them collect the win.
“We need to play with high intensity,” said Murphey. “If we play an all-out matches we have a good chance of winning.”
“We need to play with spirit,” said Byler. “If we play as a team we should be absolutely fine.”
The Yellow Jackets and Titans meet on the pitch at 2 p.m.