CARY, N.C. – It was a tale of two halves for the William Peace women's soccer team Sunday afternoon. They trailed the Wolves of Wesleyan College, 2-1, after the first 45 minutes, but the Pacers turned it on in the second half scoring three goals to come from behind and win, 4-2.
WPU struck first 19 minutes in as Grayson Kincaid played Mari Mitterling who finished with a nice shot just within the 18 yard box with the right amount of pace to get over the keeper's outstretched arms and dip below the cross bar for the goal.
The Pacers looked content heading into the half with a one goal advantage, but the Wolves caught them napping and took a 2-1 lead with goals in the 38th and 41st minutes. Both goals were unassisted and scored by Leah Mcleod. McLeod dribbled into a scrum of several Peace defenders and somehow popped out on the other side with a wide open look at the net for her second goal.
To say head coach Keith Jenkins was unhappy with his girl's effort in the first half would be an understatement, but the Pacers responded after getting a simple message at the break.
"We challenged them, and told them you have to give a better effort,' said Jenkins. "It comes down to effort, every single player, and they came out and responded in the second half."
WPU held the Wolves scoreless the rest of the way and finally got their offense going, changing things up a bit from their previous matches. The Pacers went to a 4-3-3 pushing Mitterling, Amelia Melching, and Katie Hodges up higher in an attempt to get more balls and more opportunities into the box. It seemed to work well and especially in the second half.
Hodges, the USA South's reining Rookie of the Week, scored in the 62nd minute to tie things up as she collected a loose ball and got it past the keeper. Hodges also assisted the next two goals.
Dava McLamb took the feed from Hodges in the 65th minute and bent it past the keeper. Melching finished things off as Hodges lofted a ball high in the air from outside the box that found her right in front of the goal. Melching shielded off a defender and put it in for the goal.
"We've had pockets of good play, but we just have to put a whole 90 minutes together," said Jenkins. "At times we're fantastic and we play the game it's supposed to be played – simple, fast, smart – and other times we just breakdown. We can't have those breakdowns once we get into conference."
The WPU women's soccer team begins conference play next weekend as they travel for a pair of game against Maryville and Piedmont. They'll have one more non-conference tune-up this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. as they hit the road for the first time all season to face the Wildcats of Randolph College.
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