Four different Mountain Cats found the back of the net as the Pitt-Johnstown women's soccer team celebrated its home opener and alumni day with a 4-1, non-conference win over West Virginia Wesleyan College on Sunday afternoon at Richland High School
Sarah Henry got the Mountain Cats on the board in the 40th minute, burying a penalty kick to break a scoreless deadlock just before halftime. Pitt-Johnstown (1-1-0) carried that momentum into the second half and never trailed.
Two minutes after the restart, Madelyn Pfaff doubled the lead in the 47th minute, heading home a corner kick from Sarah Rader to make it 2-0. Faith King extended the margin to 3-0 in the 63rd minute, converting an assist from Henry, who set up a teammate after opening the scoring herself.
West Virginia Wesleyan got on the board in the 71st minute when Tessa Grisez scored off a Natalie Carlock assist to cut the deficit to 3-1, but Pitt-Johnstown answered immediately. Maddie Barrick restored the three-goal cushion just over two minutes later, finishing an assist from Taylor Zacharda in the 73rd minute to make it 4-1 and put the game away.
Pitt-Johnstown was outshot 12-11 but held a 10-8 edge in shots on goal, with Parker Grimm making seven saves in net to preserve the win. Kristen Horgan and Marissa Mackey also tested the Wesleyan defense with shots on goal.
The Mountain Cats will look to carry the momentum into PSAC play when they travel to face California (Pa.) on Wednesday at 5 p.m., before returning home for their PSAC home opener against Edinboro on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pitt-Johnstown Soccer Field.
