STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – The Washington & Jefferson College women's soccer team (6-7-1, 4-4-0) secured its biggest victory of the 2026 season when they earned a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over the Franciscan University Barons (9-2-2, 6-2-1) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference match at Trinity Health System Field.
Madison Rose (Butler, Pa./Butler) registered her first collegiate hat trick to propel the Red and Black past the Barons. Rose finished with a match-high five shots to pace the Presidents' offensive efforts.
Alexa Taylor (Aliquippa, Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) tallied three shots while
Dove Corrette-Bennett (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock),
Maura Heberle (Georgetown, Pa./South Side Beaver) and
Rylin Bugosh (Mount Pleasant, Pa./Mount Pleasant) finished with two shots apiece.
The two teams battled through a scoreless first half. Franciscan held a slight 6-5 advantage in shots over the first 45 minutes.
Both teams turned things up offensively in the second half. The Barons scored twice in the opening five minutes, first on an unassisted score just 1:56 into the second half. FUS then took advantage of a penalty kick opportunity and increased its lead to 2-0 less than two minutes later.
The Presidents showed a tremendous amount of resolve to bounce back from the deficit. W&J finally broke through in the 65th minute.
Natalie Faingnaert (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) set up the score, as the sophomore distributed the ball to Rose, who collected and fired a shot high and above the Franciscan goalkeeper's outstretched hands for the Presidents' first goal.
Rose did it again in the 77th minute, collecting a pass from Bugosh before firing a blast with her left foot again out of the goalkeeper's reach to score the equalizer. The second Rose goal allowed the Presidents to even the score at 2-2.
The Presidents weren't content with the chance at earning the draw with the second place Barons. W&J's relentless pressure continued, which enabled the Presidents to force a hand ball in the box by Franciscan, awarding the Presidents the opportunity for the go-ahead score. Rose provided a calm, cool and collected approach to calmly place the ball in the back of the net for her third goal of the day. The successful penalty kick gave W&J the 3-2 edge with just three-plus minutes remaining.
Senior goalkeeper
Molly Schoch (Burgettstown, Pa./Burgettstown) started and stopped the only shot on goal during the opening 45 minutes. Sophomore goalkeeper
Adysson Davis (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) played the final 45 minutes.
For the game, W&J held advantages in shots (18-10), shots on goal (4-3) and corner kicks (3-2).
The victory gives W&J an important three points in the conference standings. The win is the first for the Presidents in Steubenville since the Barons joined the PAC in 2020-21.
The three-goal effort was an impressive showing by the Presidents, as the Barons entered the day as one of the top defensive teams in the PAC. Franciscan had surrendered just five total goals over their previous 12 matches entering Saturday's action.
W&J welcomes first place Grove City to Alexandre Stadium on Tuesday (Oct. 20). The match is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
