COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Zoe Tesone may be just a freshman, but the rookie stood tall for the Ursinus College women's soccer team in a 1-0 win over Moravian College on Wednesday night.
Tesone got Ursinus (2-9-2) on the board 10 minutes into the second half thanks to a nifty pass from senior Kerry Goldstein off a corner sent in by senior Katie Bell. Bell lofted the ball in from the left, which fell at the top of the box to Goldstein, who shouldered the ball into the box in the direction of the goal, allowing Tesone to blast the ball home for her first collegiate score. Goldstein's assist was her first career point, coming in her second start of the season. Bell's assist was her first of the season.
The Bears almost had a second goal less than two minutes later, when a long pass skipped through the Greyhound defensive unit. As senior Kendall Couch chased, the Moravian defender and goalkeeper collided. As Couch's left-footed shot hit the back of the wide open net, the referee blew the play dead for an injured Moravian player, wiping the score away.
There wasn't much going on for either side in the first half of play. The two sides combined for five total shots, with just one shot from the Greyhounds on goal, but senior goalkeeper Marisa Kalkstein was able to make the save in her first start since September 12. The Bears had a couple of narrow escapes, though, as Kalkstein was called upon to make the stop on a shot toward the lower left corner of the goal. She later got a little help from her friends on a Moravian corner kick. The Greyhounds sent the ball into the box and it ricocheted off the bodies in front of the goal. It would have went in the net if not for a pair of Bears defenders, who were able to keep the ball from crossing the line.
While the Bears were able to muster up three shots in the first 45 minutes, none were on goal, as Tesone got her head on a corner attempt, but sent it over the crossbar. Fellow freshman Jillian Mikula – who made her first start of the season in the contest– fired a left-footed line drive just outside of the left post with just less than three minutes to go in the period.
Not only did Tesone net the game-winning goal, but her effort on defense may have been even more instrumental in the victory. Her aggressive play led to defensive stop after defensive stop, preventing the Greyhounds from ever putting together an extended scoring chance. Her signature defensive play of the game came when she faced a 2-on-1. As a pair of Moravian attackers barrelled across the 50-yard line, Tesone prevented the player with the ball from passing to her teammate by cutting off the lane, while simultaneously shielding the path toward Kalkstein. Tesone would stand tall until her chance to poke the ball away and out of bounds.
Kalkstein notched her first win of the season, making just the one save en route to her first shutout of the season – and third of the season for Ursinus.
The Bears will look to make it back-to-back wins on Saturday against No. 10 Johns Hopkins. Ursinus will honor its seniors prior to a match, which is set for 12 p.m.
