Pioneers come back on Shawnee State for rainy victory, 2-1

PITTSBURGH -- Point Park University women's soccer earned a comeback victory, 2-1, over Shawnee State University at a rainy Highmark Stadium on Saturday night. The Pioneers (7-4-3, 4-1-1 RSC) scored both of their goals in the second half to bounce back from a 1-0 deficit at the break.

Point Park won a game after trailing for just the second time this season. The only other victory after being down at any point was the 10-1 win at Washington Adventist when the Pioneers scored the final 10 goals unanswered after an early deficit. 

The Pioneers got the River States Conference win over Shawnee STate (3-9-1, 2-3-1 RSC) with Lorena Montanes and Vanessa Vazquez notching second-half goals. Both times, Point Park forced the issue deep in the Bears' territory to draw fouls from the defense. 

Trailing, 1-0, the ball was played into the box to star forward Holly Pascoe. She was fouled on a collison with the goalkeeper to draw a penalty. Montanes stepped up to the spot and buried it low and right to tie things up at 52:09. 

The Pioneers drew another foul just outside the box in the 76th minute with Pascoe again on the receiving end of the harm. Vazquez made the Bears pay with her strike into the upp 90, outside of reach of goalkeeper Julie Derenemesnil. It came from about 20 yards away on the left corner of the box. 

Point Park's second-half shutout had four of the five saves coming in the second half. Two of the saves on the night were made by defenders with goalkeeper Maggie Pappas making three saves in 90 minutes of action. 

Shot were fairly even at 11-9 in favor of Point Park. The Pioneers had a couple of extra shots in the second half to provide a difference. 

Point Park is on the road for its next games Oct. 19 and 21 at Midway (Ky.) and WVU Tech for a pair of RSC contests.