EMORY, Va. — Addison Rishling scored two second-half goals, including the match-winner with 2:42 remaining, as Tusculum University rallied for a 2-1 victory at Emory & Henry University in South Atlantic Conference women’s soccer Wednesday night at Fred Selfe Stadium.
The Pioneers (3-7-1, 1-4-1 SAC) were outshot 28-8 by the Wasps (5-5-1, 2-4-0 SAC), but Rishling scored the tying goal in the 61st minute and the winner in the 88th minute. Goalkeeper Angel Chase kept the Pioneers in the match after the Wasps’ Karlijn Keuters scored an early goal, finishing with 10 saves for the evening.
Keuters gave Emory & Henry a 1-0 lead at 5:48 as she chipped a shot from 10 yards that carried over the head of Chase and into the net.
The Wasps would keep up the pressure after the Keuters goal, forcing Chase to make four saves in a span of just over three minutes including a lunging stop on Bella Fairley and a punch over the crossbar off a Keuters blast in the 13th minute.
Tusculum’s lone shot of the first half came in the 25th minute when Sydney Grant collected the ball near midfield and dribbled to within 10 yards before taking a shot that was stopped on a dive by Emory & Henry keeper Sophia Wagner. The Wasps would end the first half with a 13-2 advantage in shots over the Pioneers.
In the second half, Chase made two nearly-identical saves on 30-yard blasts by Charlotte Stavis in the 52nd and 53rd minutes. Tusculum had a free kick in the 56th minute, but Wagner cradled a long attempt from the Pioneers’ Marja Enste.
Rishling had a look from the top of the 18 in the 60th minute, but Wagner made the save. Just over a minute later, Rishling moved to the middle after taking a pass frm Grant, and took a shot from just outside 20 yards that bounced twice and sneaked past Wagner at 60:53 to knot the match at 1-1.
Chase would follow up with another save on Stavis in the 70th minute and jumped on a loose ball off the foot of Riley Firebaugh in the 77th minute, just moments after Chavis drilled a shot off the crossbar.
Rishling collected the winning goal with 2:42 left as she took a cross from Tanna Bookhamer, turned and shot from the 18 over Wagner and into the top of the net.
Emory & Henry had one final opportunity with one minute left, but a shot from distance by Stavis went over the crossbar.
Chase’s 10 saves matched her season high set at Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 2, while Wagner had four saves for the Wasps.
Emory & Henry had a 6-1 edge in corner kicks over Tusculum, and the Wasps were called for 12 fouls to seven for the Pioneers.
Tusculum will be on the road on Sunday, Oct. 20 at Limestone. The Saints lost 2-1 at Anderson on Wednesday and are 2-4-1 in the SAC and 3-6-2 overall.
