HIGH POINT — The Elon University women’s soccer team dropped its fourth straight match on Friday, Sept. 5, a 3-0 loss to High Point University.
Senior midfielder Jacky Kessler scored a second half brace, while freshman midfielder Becca Rolfe added another in the final minute of play to sink the Phoenix.
The Phoenix went on the offensive in the early going. In the third minute, freshman forward Sue Anderson headed junior defender Erin Tanhauser’s corner high over the bar. High Point’s first shot came minutes later in the seventh minute. Redshirt freshman midfielder Taylor Thomson’s effort was blocked by the Elon defense.
Neither side managed many chances in the opening 45 minutes, but senior forward Marissa Russo came the closest to breaking the deadlock. But the winger’s effort in the 42nd minute went begging off the crossbar to keep the game goalless going into halftime.
Elon started the second half much like the first, with an early corner kick. Senior forward Raychel Diver’s delivery was met by Russo, but High Point freshman goalkeeper Jordan Beets made the save to keep the game leveled at the 49:37 mark.
High Point made an immediate response on the other end of the field. Kessler tested senior goalkeeper Kate Murphy, but the Sterling, Va., product made the stop to preserve the clean sheet.
At the 56:10 mark, Murphy was called on again. Sophomore defender Kelsey Perrell’s effort was not good enough to beat Murphy and the match remained scoreless.
With less than 30 minutes remaining in the match, Kessler broke the deadlock with her second goal of the season. Freshman midfielder Paige Rombach ran down the right wing and crossed the ball into Kessler. Her initial effort was blocked, but she was the first to react to the rebound and guided the ball into the back of the net.
Freshman Sydney Schilling almost equalized for the Phoenix. Schilling was in on goal from a long ball out of the Elon back line, but Beets was able to get enough of a touch on the ball to deflect the ball away for a corner.
Kessler grabbed her second goal of the match with a free-kick in the 89th minute. Her free-kick curled over the wall, deflected off of Murphy’s outreached hand onto the bottom of the cross bar and into the net.
Rolfe grabbed another goal for High Point in the 90th minute chipping Murphy who was well off her line.
With the victory, High Point remains undefeated at 3-0-2. With the loss, Elon drops to 1-4-0 on the year. Elon will return to action on Sunday, Sept. 7 when the Phoenix travels to Greenville, N.C. to take on East Carolina University.