WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—In their first contest of the 2019 campaign, the Sailfish women's soccer team shutout Florida National University by a score of 3-0. With the victory, PBA extended its streak of wins in season openers to five.
Palm Beach Atlantic (1-0-0) controlled much of the play for the competition by maintaining possession in FNU's defensive third. Despite an attacking presence that out-shot the Conquistadors 13-2 in the first half, the Sailfish failed to get on the board until late in the initial period.
The possession finally paid off in the 38th minute, when freshman forward Taylor Camp turned in the box and was fouled. Junior Carrie Jones, who played in 17 matches last season, sent the FNU keeper the wrong way on the ensuing penalty and calmly slotted the ball into the left-side netting to break through for PBA.
Jones' tally was the only goal of the first 45 minutes, but the midfielder would strike again early in the second half.
In the 58th minute, Karina Williams received a ball in the penalty area, but with the Florida National goalkeeper bearing down on her, the Dallas native instinctively dropped the ball to Jones, who easily chipped the ball into the back of the net from 20 yards out to double the Palm Beach Atlantic advantage.
Just seven minutes after Jones completed her brace, freshman Michaela Boyd got on the scoresheet with her first collegiate goal. Fellow freshman Meagan Brown sent a dipping cross into the area, which struck the crossbar and bounced to Boyd. The midfielder settled the bouncing ball and blasted it into the net to cap off the emphatic 3-0 win.
"It was great to get out and finally get our season started. I think we always want more, but I was happy with the result and that we improved as the game went on. We had a lot of possession and give credit to FNU because they were hard to break down defensively for us tonight," said Head Coach Chris Gnehm.
Gnehm's squad earned eight corners to Florida National's mere one, while recording 25 shots on offense and limiting FNU to just two, none on target.
"We are looking forward to continuing our development as a team and can take a lot of positives away from tonight as we head into our games this weekend," Gnehm added.
PBA will now travel to Belmont, N.C. to face Belmont Abbey on Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
