The Park University women's soccer program was at Julian Field for Senior Day on Saturday with Heart of America Athletic Conference opponent Mount Mercy University. Park got to the lead and held on for a 3-1 win leading in to the Heart Conference Tournament.
Park had 12 seniors on the pitch Saturday, including
Delaney Duke,
Emma Le,
Willoughby Lam,
Megan Everhart,
Lizeth Suarez,
Patrycia Kozak,
Sofia Morales,
Chloe Tays, Lesley Hernandez,
Annalena Penshorn,
Sophia Pope, and
Rand Taleb.
Park moves to 9-4-3 on the season with a 7-3-3 Heart record, surpassing the 7-8-2 and 5-7-1 records of the Mustangs. With the win, Park secured the No. 5 seed in the Heart Conference Tournament Quarterfinal. This is the Pirate's third tournament appearance in the last four years.
It's been a consistent stream of goals for Park's senior striker from Canada, Kozak, and it was no different on Saturday with her 20th goal of the season at the 16th minute. Her fellow senior Taleb threaded in the assist.Â
No more than a minute later, the senior from Colombia, Suarez laced the game's second goal with an assist coming from Everhart.
The Pirates got all their goals in the first half with Le rounding off the scoring in the 28th minute, with a second assist from Everhart who mentioned on senior day her favorite moments from the pitch is when she gets assists to her teammates.
The Mustangs scored in the 38th minute to make it 3-1, but
Delaney Duke a senior from Webb City, Mo. secured seven saves to keep the two-goal win intact.
Park had six more shots than the Mustangs for the game with 20 compared to 14. Meanwhile, the Pirates had just as many shots on goal with 14. The defense on set pieces was sound with nine corners for the Mustangs to Park's one.Â
Park is back in action for post-season play in Atchison, Kan. on Wednesday evening at 7pm against No. 4 Benedictine College, a team Park tied with this season and met two years ago in the Heart Quarterfinals.
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