BREVARD, N.C. - Taylor Richardson's first collegiate goal proved vital, as the freshman's header off an Abbie Petrosky corner kick proved to be the game-winner as the Brevard College women's soccer team (1-0, 1-0 USAS) held on to defeat the Covenant College Scots (1-1, 0-1 USAS) by a final of 1-0 in BC's season debut at the newly-expanded Ives-Lemel Family Field on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
Richardson, a freshman forward from Seminole, Florida, headed a Petrosky corner kick past the outstretched arms of Covenant goalkeeper Lucy Sandhoff (1-1) on the near post in the 53rd minute of action. The score ended up being the decider in a tightly-contested matchup that saw the Tornados shut out the Scots in the first conference contest for the two sides.
Petrosky, a junior midfielder from South Park, Pennsylvania, whipped in the corner to Richardson to log the only assist of the afternoon. Senior goalkeeper Rebeccah Rojas (1-0) recorded three saves to seal the 21st victory of her collegiate career in-goal for the Tornados. Richardson tallied three total shots, including a pair on-goal, while Ashley Royster and Emma White each ripped a pair of attempts. Freshmen Tae Brown and Autumn Wright also attempted the first shots of their careers at BC.
Covenant's Sandhoff turned away three Tornado shot attempts, while Katie Davick, Leah Marr, Megan Rasku, and Abby White all recorded a shot attempt.
The Tornados were able to outshoot the Scots, 10-4, while also winning four corner kicks. Each side tallied three saves on the afternoon as well.
Rasku let the first shot for either side fly in the sixth minute of action in what proved to be the only attempt for either side until Covenant's Marr was turned away in the 33rd minute by Rojas. BC's second shot of the afternoon on a White free-kick was saved by the Scots in the 37th minute before Petrosky's 41st-minute attempt went wide. The Tornados got three shots off – two from White and one from Royster – in the final five minutes of action before the halftime intermission came with both sides still deadlocked in a 0-0 tie.
The Tornados won the first corner kick for either side in the 53rd minute, as Petrosky lined up and sailed the ball into the box, finding the head of Richardson to break the scoreless affair and put the Tornados up, 1-0. Just a few minutes later, Royster attempted a shot that was saved by Covenant's goalkeeper as BC looked to double its lead right away.
Brevard won a pair of corners with slightly less than half an hour left to play, while Brown and Wright recorded the next two shot attempts for the Tornados.
Richardson recorded shots in the 76th and 80th minutes of action, one being blocked while the other saved, as the Tornados kept the pressure on the visitors. Covenant was only able to muster one shot attempt in the final 40 minutes of play when White's 86th-minute try was saved by Rojas, as the Tornados clinched the season-opening victory in a crucial USA South Conference West Division match.
BC is scheduled to travel to Maryville, Tennessee for a mid-week matchup against Maryville College on Wednesday. February 17 at 6 p.m. before returning home on Sunday, February 21 to face Berea College at 1 p.m.
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