Celler's OT Goal Nets Geoducks a Victory
Molly Celler scored her first goal for The Evergreen State College women's soccer team on Saturday and it couldn't have come at a better time.
Celler's goal 1:56 into the first overtime period gave the Geoducks (2-7-0 overall, 2-3-0 CCC) a hard-earned 1-0 Cascade Collegiate Conference victory over the visiting Oregon Tech Owls (5-7-1, 3-5-0) at Geoduck Pitch.
The victory ended a three-match losing streak for the Geoducks, who recorded their first shutout of the season. Junior goalkeeper Alison Mackey finished with nine saves as the Owls took 19 shots compared to nine for Evergreen.
The winning goal came when Celler, making a diagonal run across the top of the 18-yard box, got to a pass from Ava Mickola ahead of Oregon Tech keeper Emma Niskanen. Celler, a junior transfer from Arizona, touched the ball around Niskanen and took a long-range shot at a tight right angle, but her accuracy was spot on and the ball rolled into the empty net.
Oregon Tech had the run of play in the opening 45 minutes, taking 12 shots to just two for the Geoducks, but even though five of their shots were on target Evergreen's Mackey had little trouble with them. The second half was more even with the visitors getting seven shots compared to six for Evergreen. The second half trend continued as Mackey added four more easy saves.
Niskanen had less work to do on the other end of the field and finished the match with four saves.
Evergreen makes its longest road trip of the season next weekend, traveling to Montana for conference matches against Carroll College and University of Great Falls. After that the Geoducks play their final four regular season games at home.