Win Over Darton State Propels Falcons to National Ranking
Daytona Beach, FL (DSCFalcons.com)- The Daytona State Falcons continued their inaugural season successes with a 3-0 win over the Darton State College Cavaliers, Sunday September 25th.
The Falcons opened up the scoring just under nine minutes into the game with a cross from Cheyenne Beck (Panama City, FL) into Heather Nulty (Winter Springs, FL). Darton's goalkeeper, Abby Whiteside, made a save on Nulty's initial shot, but couldn't reach the second, which was placed into the top right part of the goal. Nulty found the back of the net less than three minutes later off a set piece served in by Kaila Armstrong (Broomfield, CO). Nulty currently leads the Falcons in total points, with 20. She's scored 8 goals in 7 games, recorded 4 assists, and 2 game winners.
"I am incredibly proud of our team today. We knew we were going to be challenged by a strong Darton team and they certainly gave us some issues in the later part of the first half," said Coach Brittany Jones.
The last 20 minutes of the first half, the Falcons found themselves on their defensive half as the Cavs pushed for a goal, generating two shots on goal. In the 43rd minute, the Cavs' most dangerous of the two shots came from just inside the 18-yard box towards the far post. Making arguably her best save of the season, Kristian Shores (New Symrna, FL), was able stretch to her right to secure the ball and preserve her 4th shutout.
The Falcons found the back of the net one more time 120 minutes into the contest when Shanade Hopcroft (Ayelsbury, England) collected a redirected header by Beck, beat a Cavs defender and placed the ball into the side netting, marking her fifth goal of the season. Beck's two assists in Sunday's match improve her total points on the season to 15, good for second on the squad (6 goals, 3 assists) behind Nulty.
The Falcons' backline of Maia Krebser (Bradenton, FL), Brittany Greene (Orange City, FL), Olivia Thomas (Port St. Lucie, FL), and Tyler Einsmann (Bradenton, FL) only allowed one more shot on goal in the second half en route to the 6th team shutout of the season.
"I have talked at length with our team about character and how character is revealed during moments of adversity. The girls responded well and deserved the victory today."
With their 7th win in books, the Falcons received votes in the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) National Rankings, coming in at 19th in the country and a 7-0-0 record to date. The Falcons join cross conference foe, Eastern Florida State (1), as the only Region 8 teams in the poll.
The Falcons will host ASA Miami Wednesday, September 28th on Embry Riddle's turf field at 3 pm.