La Plume, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Women's Soccer team continued their strong run of form on Saturday as they defeated Keystone 9-0 on the road.
The Panthers went ahead early, controlled the first half, and then exploded for 7 in the final 45. They have won four games in a row and in that stretch have outscored their opponents 31-0.
Pitt-Bradford went on the attack at the start and nearly took the lead in the 5th minute, but Mya King's shot bounced off the post. Three minutes later, the Panthers put the ball in the net to take the lead. Avery Benzel poked the ball away from a Keystone midfielder to Mya King. King turned and passed a through ball behind the defense to find Avery Yard on the break. Yard collected the pass and fired a shot past the goalkeeper for her 2nd of the year. Pitt-Bradford controlled possession for the next 12 minutes, but could not find space for a shot until the 22nd. King collected a long pass from Benzel and found Yard in the middle of the field. The sophomore returned a pass to King, who was able to take a few touches and finish to the corner for her league-leading 9th goal. The Panthers had 4 more shots saved in the half, while Maddison Coe stopped the Giants' only shot in the 27th minute.
The Panthers started the 2nd half lightning quick, putting the game out of doubt with 3 goals in 5 minutes. After 2 minutes, Payton Frank opened her collegiate account with the Panthers' third of the game. Benzel received a throw-in on the left flank and after cutting inside, slid a diagonal pass into the box. Frank attacked the pass from the right flank and tapped a one-time shot past the oncoming goalkeeper. 44 seconds later, King doubled her tally to put the Panthers up 4-0. Yard flicked a header past the defense on a free kick from Kimberly Goodwin. King ran on to the pass and finished past the goalie for her brace. 90 seconds later, Frank scored her second of the game. Makartnee Mortimer took possession in her own half and sent a long pass through the defense to find Frank on the break, who started the run on her side of the midline, nullifying offsides. Frank took a few touches and easily finished past the keeper to put Pitt-Bradford up 5-0.
Frank added to her career day in the 66th, completing a hat trick. two minutes later, she retrieved the ball on the right wing and crossed the ball into Emily Gibbons, who controlled the ball and shot into the net from close range. The goal was Gibbons' 4th of the year. In the 77th, Pitt-Bradford extended their lead to 8. Gianna Gomez was able to beat the offsides trap and collect a through ball from King. She was one-on-one with the keeper and calmly finished for her 5th goal of the year. With 10 minutes to go, Ainslie Gardner finished the scoring on an assist from Yard. It was her 2nd of the season.
Payton Frank had a career game for the Panthers, scoring 3 times on all 3 shots she attempted. She also added an assist. Mya King added 2 more goals to her tally and assisted on 2 others. Avery Yard scored once and assisted twice, while Gianna Gomez had a goal and an assist. Emily Gibbons and Ainslie Gardner also scored for Pitt-Bradford, while Kimberly Goodwin and Makartnee Mortimer had assists from the back line. Madison Coe made 1 save to earn a shutout.
The Panthers are now 4-1-1 on the season. They will look to continue their winning ways on Monday when they host Penn State-New Kensington at Rathburn Family Field. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m.
