Corner kick goals help UNC Soccer past UM
GREELEY -- The Northern Colorado soccer team excelled offensively and defensively Sunday in its 4-0 win over Montana. Three Bears scored including two goals from senior Chandler Guetz at Jackson Stadium in front of 161 fans.
"In our league it's about taking care of your home games," head coach Tim Barrera said. "Montana traveling from Grand Forks, North Dakota, it's not an easy trip, especially coming out of Missoula to get there, so you have to take advantage of the home games.
"Today we came out and got two quick goals and had a little bit of a lull but came out in the second half and just kept fighting and got two more. Four-nothing is probably not as close as the game was. The biggest difference was that we scored three goals off corner kick set pieces and if you can score off set pieces it really gives you a good opportunity to win."
Sophomore Rebecca Lancia and junior Ambree Bellin showed their talent in putting the ball in position to score on three of the four goals. Lancia and senior Danielle Birdsall earned two assists while Bellin and junior Juliana Grover totaled one.
The Bears readied for its first corner kick of the day just over six minutes into the match. Lancia sent the kick into play to the right side of the goalie box where Guetz headed in the goal. Just over four minutes later on a break, Birdsall passed the ball to Grover who pushed the ball up the field. Grover then found sophomore Essence Ortiz-Laneir waiting on the left side of the penalty box who scored the second goal of the day and her fifth of the season.
The Grizzlies took the final six shots of the first period, but the Bears got the edge back in the second. Lancia and Birdsall added their second assists of the day in the 63rd minute. After Lancia put the ball into play from the corner kick, Birdsall passed it to Guetz who was waiting on the right side. Guetz shot towards the left side of the net to make the score 3-0.
The final blow of the day came in the 81st minute as the Bears scored off the final corner kick of the day. Bellin put a lift into the ball from the left corner towards the middle of the goalie box. Freshman Paige Morris was able to get enough air to head in the score, making the final 4-0.
"We've scored a few goals on the year off set pieces and that comes with experience and training it," Barrera said. "Paige (Morris) scored a ton of goals in high school on the corner, just rising above. Being 5'11" it's great to see her get up and snap one home today. It's good to be dangerous because you could be having a bad day and if you can go ahead and score on set pieces you're in business."
On the defensive side, senior Natalie D'Adamio's game status was a question coming into the match after leaving Friday's match with a leg injury. After observation and warming up in pre-game, D'Adamio was set in the starting lineup. D'Adamio showed no signs of injury as she made six saves on the day for her seventh shutout of the season.
"(D'Adamio) is a tough kid, a fifth-year senior," Barrera said. "We have a great athletic training staff. They monitored her and made sure everything was good and she did what she had to do. Marissa did a nice job at the end of the last game and it was good to get her a few minutes at the end of the game today. That was the nice thing about getting the third and the fourth goal to get some players out there."
The statistics on the day were closer than the final score showed. Montana led in shots, 13-12. The Bears' six saves were one more than the Grizzlies recorded. The three corner kick set piece goals came off five total corner kicks for the Bears on the day.
"Really I couldn't ask for anything more than a couple wins on a weekend," Barrera said. "It was a beautiful day today, beautiful sunshine and a fantastic day to go out and get a win at home."
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