WASHINGTON, Pa. -- After a slow start to the season, the Washington & Jefferson College women's soccer entered Tuesday's road match with Waynesburg in search of its first conference victory. They turned to a familiar face and a new one to earn a hard fought 1-0 victory to gain three points in the Presidents' Athletic Conference standings.
Hannah Johnston (East Freedom, Pa./Central) buried a header into the back of the net in the 58th minute of play to give W&J a 1-0 lead. Freshman goalkeeper
Abby Hipkins (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) made several clutch saves down the stretch to preserve the lead and post the shutout victory. Hipkins used a leaping save to turn away a shot by Grace Ingram with just a little more than seven minutes to play. Hipkins tallied another important save, as she denied a Jill Moyer shot on goal with 5:45 to play.
The two teams played through an evenly played first half, as both teams tallied five shots over the course of the opening 45 minutes. W&J turned up the offensive pressure in the early stages of the second half.
Marcy Saldivar (Darlington, Pa./Blackhawk) sent a shot high over the net.
A few minutes later,
Katie Hahn (Volant, Pa./Wilmington) sent a shot on goal that was saved by Waynesburg. However, that chance set up a corner kicker opportunity for the Presidents.
McKenna Lewis (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) sent a perfect corner kick into the box for Johnston to head into the net for a W&J goal.
Hipkins and the defense made that goal stand up as W&J scored its first win of the season.
The win moves W&J to 1-2-1 in PAC play. The loss drops Waynesburg to 1-3 in league matches.
W&J travels to Franciscan on Tuesday, April 6 for a PAC match. Kickoff with the Barons is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
