Women’s soccer: Bridgewater opens ODAC Play by Blanking Emory & Henry

The Bridgewater College women’s soccer team overwhelmed visiting Emory & Henry with a first-half offensive barrage as the Eagles took a 12-0 victory in its first conference game of the season.

A year ago, the Wasps battled the Eagles to a scoreless draw in two overtimes on a rainy day in Emory.

Saturday, the Eagles, ranked No. 7 in the South Atlantic Region, scored early and often to take control of the game.

Bridgewater got on the scoreboard in the sixth minute when Grayson Mathews scored for a 1-0 Eagles lead.

The Eagles took command when freshman Isabella Weigel scored three goals during a five-minute span, making the score 4-0.

Weigel scored her first goal in the 19th minute when she beat the goalie with a shot from the right side to the far post, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead. A corner kick opportunity led to the next goal in the 23rd minute. Bailey Kratztook the corner and sent a ball to back post. The ball bounced long but Isabella Krider chased the ball down and served a pass back into the box where Weigel headed it past the keeper, making the score 3-0. Another corner, just 45 seconds later led to another score. Krider took the corner and her kick to the back post found Weigel who completed the hat trick by touching a shot just inside the post and past the keeper for a 4-0 Eagles lead.

Keri Rager added the next two goals during a three-minute stretch to pad the lead.

Kelly Patterson sent a long pass from the defensive end over the defenders, finding Rager who timed her run perfectly to beat her defender. Rager was 1-on-1 vs. the keeper and pushed her shot into the open net for a 5-0 Bridgewater lead.

After a brief flurry by Emory & Henry at the offense end, featuring the Wasps’ lone corner and lone shot of the game, the Eagles struck again.

Anna Sobus beat her defender down the right side and found Janidy Madera inside the box. Madera touched a pass back to a wide-open Catherine Haufe, Haufe blasted a shot from just insde the box, but keeper Kieran Liseski made a nice diving save to stop the shot. The ball bounced off the keeper’s hands and Rager was there to clean up the rebound for her second goal to make it 6-0.

The Eagles struck again in the 36th minute when Morgan Todd played a through balll to Anna Sobus down the right side. Sobus took her shot from just inside the box with her left foot and beat the keeper to the far post for a 7-0 lead.

Bridgewater scored its final goal of the half in the 41st minute. Sarah Brennan sent a long pass over the defense to Emily Brummett down the right side. Brummett took her shot from just inside the box and put it over the goalie’s outstretch hands to make the score 8-0.

After an own goal early in the second half pushed the lead to 9-0, the Eagles added three more scores for the final margin.

In the 66th minute Haufe sent a through ball to Fabiani and her shot from the right side slipped inside the near post to make it 10-0. Less than a minute later, Fabiani again figured in the scoring, this time with an assist. The Eagles freshman carried the ball into the box and worked along the left end line where she slipped a pass in front of the goal and Brummett was there to touch it past the keeper for an 11-0 lead.

A pair of freshmen paired up for the final goal in the closing minutes. Fabiani crossed a ball into the box from the left side and found the foot of Selena Mendo who stroked the shot past the goalkeeper from 6 yards out for the final 12-0 margin.

The shutout was the fifth of the season for Bridgewater and the third for goalkeeper Hayley Talbott.

Bridgewater, now 7-1 overall and 1-0 in the ODAC returns to conference play Wednesday when the Eagles travel to Ashland, Va., to play Randolph-Macon.