YORK, PA - The York College women's soccer team (7-1) won 2-1 on their home turf at Graham Field in a non-conference tilt against the Blue Jays from near by Elizabethtown College (2-4).

The first half began with play moving up and down the field while Elizabethtown found themselves behind the Spartan defenders on multiple occasions.

During one of those occasions, the visitors began the day's scoring when freshman Laura Wingert received a through ball from fellow freshman Kristen Eck who beat York's goalkeeper Sarah Spanarkel (Toms River, N.J./ Toms River North) for the goal (12:17).

The Green and White did not take long to rally their own attack.  After a tripping call against the Blue Jays, York's Steph Mergler (Street, Md/ North Harford) set up for a free kick from 30 yards out.  That's where Mergler, a junior, found senior Kat Torode (Brick, N.J./ Brick Township) who put the ball in with a top-shelf header to tie the game at one tally apiece (17:21).

“We've been working on finding the open person,” Mergler said in a post-game interview. “ Kat worked hard to get to the ball.”

The score went tied 1-1 into halftime.  York led the shots category 8-2 in the half, most of which were well defended by the Blue Jays.

After the intermission, Elizabethtown came out of the locker room fired up.  The Blue Jays gained two corner kick opportunities in the first two minutes of the second half.  Both of the kicks were played wide and the Spartan defense held tight in front of the net.

The Spartans were poised to not allow another goal as the play resumed.  Blue Jay freshman Caitlin Lark had a great look from 18 yards out when Spartan defender Ally Wivell (Emmitsburg, Md/ Catoctin) made a sliding block on the attempt.

The ball yet again found itself in Spartan territory, this time with Spanarkel making a great save.  The Blue Jays attack penetrated the defense and Spanarkel stepped up to block the one-on-one attempt by Lark.

With tough defensive play resuming the Spartans were able to earn a corner kick.  Senior Kaitlyn Harney (Stewartstown, Pa/ York Catholic) found Torode again for the game-winning header, her second goal of the game, third of the season (79:26).

“We want to gel, work hard, and give it our all,” Mergler said. “We're not going to stop until the end of the season.”

For the game, the Spartans lead 11-6 in shots while corner kicks were tied at six apiece.

Spanarkel gets the win in the Spartan net as she notched two saves. Kristen Kelly recieves the loss as she played the final 45 minutes of the game and allowed the game winning goal while making two saves.  Jess Manchak posted one save in the first period.

The Spartans return to action on Saturday, September 26, in a Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) tilt at the University of Mary Washington with play beginning at 1:00 pm. The York squad will try to add to their six-game winning streak against the Eagles dating back to November 2, 2005 with a 3-2 double overtime win in the CAC Tournament.

BOX SCORE

Game story written by York College Sports Information Student-Intern Garrett Wampler (Garrettwampler.wordpress.com)

Kat Torode photo courtesy of Steve Doemland (www.stevedoemland.com)