TicketsCINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati soccer team finished off its 2021 regular season with a dominant 3-1 win over UCF on a rainy Thursday night in Gettler Stadium. Goals by Vanessa DiNardo, Grace Wolber and Taylor Nuncio complemented a stifling defense that allowed four shots and only two corner kicks.
The Bearcats concluded with a 7-7-3 record (5-1-3 at home) as well as 2-4-2 in the AAC.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half started out all Bearcats and Ashley Barron almost made the pressure count on the first corner of the match. Barron rose higher than anyone and sent a header just over the bar. DiNardo scored her 9th goal of the year in the 12th minute. DiNardo went on a magical, weaving run that split two defenders as she scored through the goalie. The Bearcats doubled the lead less than 10 minutes later thanks to Wolber and her first-career goal. Barron swung in a high, looping cross that the UCF goalie failed to meet and Wolber had an easy tap-in for the second goal of the match. Anna Rexford had to be alert when a through ball got all the way through and she did well to stop a one-on-one right before half.
The second half started with a goal from the visitors in the 55th minute. The Bearcats made two huge defensive plays to keep it at 2-1. Thiss did brilliantly well to break-up an odd-man rush for the Knights, and minutes later Wolber did well to clear a header from a corner off the goalline. Nuncio made sure the defensive heroics paid off in the 69th minute. A corner kick swung in by Brandi Thompson to the back post was meet with the outside of the foot by Nuncio. The ball looped in over the keeper and landed at the back post. Rexford was called into action late with an acrobatic save off a UCF long shot that she tipped around the post and secured a 3-1 win.
Barron led the team with three shots in the match and recorded an assist. Rexford made two saves for the Bearcats.
QUOTE FROM COACH NEIL STAFFORD
"I'm really proud of the performance, and it was really great to get the result, too. I think anytime you can get momentum at the end of the season, regardless of how big that momentum is or not, you can leave on a little bit of a high here. Overall, it's disappointing how are season has ended here and you cannot fault the women for what they've done this season. We've generated the best attacking numbers since I've been here for nine years. We've faced the least amount of shots I've been here. Unfortunately we were punished multiple times, and statistically it's confusing. But, I am proud of the response today from the difficult road trip we just had. It shows you how resilient these women are and what a privilege it is to coach them."
NOTABLES
The Bearcats concluded with a 7-7-3 record (5-1-3 at home) as well as 2-4-2 in the AAC.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half started out all Bearcats and Ashley Barron almost made the pressure count on the first corner of the match. Barron rose higher than anyone and sent a header just over the bar. DiNardo scored her 9th goal of the year in the 12th minute. DiNardo went on a magical, weaving run that split two defenders as she scored through the goalie. The Bearcats doubled the lead less than 10 minutes later thanks to Wolber and her first-career goal. Barron swung in a high, looping cross that the UCF goalie failed to meet and Wolber had an easy tap-in for the second goal of the match. Anna Rexford had to be alert when a through ball got all the way through and she did well to stop a one-on-one right before half.
The second half started with a goal from the visitors in the 55th minute. The Bearcats made two huge defensive plays to keep it at 2-1. Thiss did brilliantly well to break-up an odd-man rush for the Knights, and minutes later Wolber did well to clear a header from a corner off the goalline. Nuncio made sure the defensive heroics paid off in the 69th minute. A corner kick swung in by Brandi Thompson to the back post was meet with the outside of the foot by Nuncio. The ball looped in over the keeper and landed at the back post. Rexford was called into action late with an acrobatic save off a UCF long shot that she tipped around the post and secured a 3-1 win.
Barron led the team with three shots in the match and recorded an assist. Rexford made two saves for the Bearcats.
QUOTE FROM COACH NEIL STAFFORD
"I'm really proud of the performance, and it was really great to get the result, too. I think anytime you can get momentum at the end of the season, regardless of how big that momentum is or not, you can leave on a little bit of a high here. Overall, it's disappointing how are season has ended here and you cannot fault the women for what they've done this season. We've generated the best attacking numbers since I've been here for nine years. We've faced the least amount of shots I've been here. Unfortunately we were punished multiple times, and statistically it's confusing. But, I am proud of the response today from the difficult road trip we just had. It shows you how resilient these women are and what a privilege it is to coach them."
NOTABLES
- Grace Wolber scored her first goal for the Bearcats. She recorded one goal and one assist as a member of Kent State her freshman year (2019).
- Taylor Nuncio's goal was the first of her career, spanning three years at UC and one at Louisville.
- Ashley Barron recorded her first assist for the Bearcats out of 46 matches.
- Vanessa DiNardo finished the season with nine goals tied for the second-most in a season since 2002. She recorded 43 shots on the year.
- Lauren Bastian's four assists on the year are the second-most in a season for the Bearcats since 2015.
- Annie Metzger earned her first start of the season and 17th of her career.
- The Bearcats allowed their opponents only 169 shots this season, their fewest allowed since 2014 (165).
- The Bearcats have never lost at home to UCF in program history, tallying a 4-0-2 record since the first meeting in 1983.