Box Score MARS HILL – The Newberry Wolves (2-0-1, 1-0) women’s soccer team opened conference play with a 1-0 victory on the road at Mars Hill (0-4-0, 0-0) thanks to a goal by senior midfielder Sabrina Serafin and a stout team defensive effort that saw the Wolves outshoot the Lions 29-3.
After dominating possession from the opening whistle, Serafin (Northridge, Calif.) finally put Newberry ahead at the 27:55 mark in the first half as she received a pass from senior forward Breanna Naranjo (Oxnard, Calif.) and one touched it into the back of the net from just outside the six yard box.
Despite only scoring one goal, the Wolves put together an impressive display of offense that totaled a whopping 29 shots with 15 of them being put on target. Senior forward Gabrielle Brodie (Rolleston, Canterbury, New Zealand) had a great chance just 5:15 into the game after being played in but her sliding efforts came up empty as Lions goalie Tori Stajduhar’s aggressive play saved a goal.
On the defensive side of the ball, Newberry limited Mars Hill to only three shots with all of them coming on goal and junior goalkeeper Alexis Carrillo (La Puente, Calif.) making all three saves. Mars Hill’s offense gained a little more traction during the second half but couldn’t break down Newberry’s back line and never really threatened to tie the game.
The second half saw Newberry come the closest to scoring the second goal as junior midfielder Guadalupe Magana (Santa Paula, Calif.) took a shot from about 30 yards that beat the keeper but ricocheted off the crossbar and back out onto the field. From there on out, Newberry battled the Lions as they pushed numbers forward to try to and find an equalizer.
Elise Sanchez (Tujunga, Calif) led the defense as the Wolves thwarted Mars Hill’s through balls and diagonal runs. All of Mars Hill’s shots came in the second half with the first shot coming 49:24 into the game.
Women’s soccer returns to action at USC Aiken on Sept. 15th at 5:30 p.m.
