ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Top-seeded Cedar Crest College came away with a 5-0 victory over fourth-seeded Cairn University in the semifinals of the 2022 Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Women's Soccer Championship on Wednesday night at the FalconPlex.
"From start to finish, in all aspects, we played our most complete game of the season," said Head Soccer Coach
Jesse Zafiratos. "We are looking forward to the championship game against a very good Bryn Athyn team."
Senior
Taylor Wolf (Townsend, Del./Middletown) supplied a hat trick to lead the Falcons to its first championship round appearance since 2019. Graduate student
Ashley Whittaker (Huntersville, N.C./Hopewell/Austin Peay University) deposited a pair for the other two goals on the night. Senior
Lauren Makely (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem North) turned away one shot.
Wolf gave Cedar Crest the lead in the 10
th minute with her first tally of the day. Senior
Madison VanKirk (Northumberland, Pa./Shikellamy) served a long ball over the Highlander back line that Wolf quickly settled, and her right-footed attempt ricocheted off the left post and in for the 1-0 advantage.
Whittaker added her initial marker just 41 seconds later. Wolf played a ball from midfield up the middle and Whittaker beat three defenders in a footrace and put the shot up and over Cairn sophomore goalkeeper Isabelle Lazor (Midland Park, N.J.) to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
Wolf found the back of the net again in the 21
st minute after junior
Olivia Kelly (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) served the ball in off a corner kick. After the Highlanders were unable to settle the ball, it found Wolf and she deposited it high over the outstretched arms of Lazor for the 3-0 margin at the half.
The Falcons tacked on a pair of insurance tallies in the second half. Whittaker netted her second of the contest in the 50
th minute and Wolf registered her 30
th goal of the season in the 55
th minute to cap her hat trick for the 5-0 final.
Cedar Crest outshot Cairn 23-5, and had nine corner kicks to the Highlanders' two. Lazor recorded eight saves in the loss.
Cedar Crest (12-3-2 overall) will play in the title game and will host second-seeded Bryn Athyn College on Saturday, November 5 at 3:00 p.m.
For the latest on Cedar Crest Athletics, follow the Falcons via social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube!
