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BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Nationally-ranked Lynchburg College turned back a strong-first half challenge from Bridgewater College and eventually pulled away for a 5-1 victory over the Eagles in Old Dominion Athletic Conference women's soccer action Saturday afternoon.
Bridgewater went toe-to-toe with the No. 8 Hornets for most of the first half. Lynchburg held a slim 7-6 edge in shots in the first 45 minutes and a 4-3 edge in shots on goal. Both teams had one corner kick in the opening half.
The teams traded shots off the post early in the game.
Just three minutes in, Lynchburg's Dana Nelsen hit a shot to the far post that eluded Eagles' keeper Krista Kelly. The ball hit the post and rolled back across the front of the goal, but no Lynchburg player could get in position to play the rebound into the open net.
Bridgewater's first opportunity came minutes later when Julia Baca's shot from 15 yards bounced off the post.
The Eagles missed a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 15th minute. Baca worked past a Hornets defender with possession of the ball and the Eagles had two players closing on Lynchburg keeper Tess Frelick. Baca slid a pass across the box and found the foot of Keri Rager. Rager pushed her shot back toward the far post and caught Frelick moving the wrong way. The Lynchburg keeper made a kick save and flicked the ball away from the goal to keep Bridgewater off the scoreboard.
Lynchburg was first on the scoreboard when Jade Woll found Angela Bosco open on the left side. Bosco found the back of the net from 15 yards away, her first of three goals on the day, to give the Hornets a 1-0 advantage.
It appeared that the Eagles would go to the break trailing by just a single goal, but the Hornets stunned Bridgewater with a goal in the final minute to take a 2-0 lead at the half. Morgan Singer tallied for Lynchburg with Dessi Dupuy getting the assist.
Lynchburg controlled play in the second half as the Hornets attack kept the pressure on the Bridgewater defense.
Bosco added two more goals in the first 17 minutes of the second half to complete her hat track and give Lynchburg a 4-0 lead.
Dupuy scored in the 75th minute of play to make it 5-0 and the goal vaulted the Hornets senior to the top of the ODAC all-time goals scored list with her 80th career goal.
The Eagles avoided the shutout when Baca stroked a shot into the upper right corner for her fifth goal of the season.
Lynchburg is now 5-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. The Eagles drop to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference
Bridgewater returns to action Tuesday afternoon when it hosts Southern Virginia in non-conference play. Game time is 4 p.m.
