CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. — Freshman Amya Parker scored two goals in her collegiate debut and Tusculum University broke a 2-2 tie with three goals in the final 11 minutes to defeat Thomas More University 5-2 in non-conference women’s soccer Thursday night.
Parker scored in the eighth and 89th minutes and Sydney Grant, Marja Enste and Isabella Reynolds added goals for the Pioneers (1-0-0), who outshot the Saints (0-1-0) by a 12-7 margin. The Pioneers never trailed in the match, as the Saints erased a pair of one-goal deficits before Tusculum took the lead for good on a penalty kick by Enste in the 80th minute.
Parker’s first goal came at 7:03 and gave Tusculum a quick 1-0 lead, but Lauren Laake responded at 26:24 to knot up the score at 1-1. Grant put the Pioneers on top 2-1 at 35:06 with a great individual effort, moving down the left side and cutting into the box before beating Thomas More keeper Lauren Welsh to the far post.
The lead would carry into the 70th minute when the Saints tied the game on a goal from Ivy Hoffman at 69:34, but Tusculum broke the deadlock with 10:08 to play as Grant was taken down just inside the box. Enste stepped up to take the penalty, and beat Welsh to the top corner for a 3-2 Pioneer lead.
Reynolds stretched the Tusculum advantage to 4-2 with 2:54 remaining as she collected a pass from Addison Rishling and scored to the far post from 25 yards out. Parker finished off her second goal of the match with 1:38 to go as a free kick went into the box and off the crossbar, which she deposited to close out the scoring.
Noemie Tartrou played the first half in goal for Tusculum and had zero saves, with Holly Cowan making three stops in the second half to earn the victory. Welsh made five saves in goal for the Saints.
Thomas More had a 4-3 edge in corner kicks over Tusculum, while the Pioneers were called for nine fouls to five for the Saints.
Tusculum will visit Ohio Dominican on Saturday, Sept. 6 for a 9:30 a.m. match. The Panthers tied Roberts Wesleyan 1-1 in their season opener on Thursday.
