EXPRESS TOP ABINGTON 2-1

(Aurora, N.Y.)─   Rachel Mattraw (Chaumont, N.Y./Lyme Central) and Rebecca Furman (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman) each scored and Megan Lawrence (Scipio Center, N.Y./C.C.C.) finished with seven saves as the Wells College women's soccer team (1-3, 1-1 NEAC) defeated the Penn. St. Abington Nittany Lions (1-2, 0-2 NEAC) 2-1 in North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) action Sunday afternoon in Aurora, N.Y. Samantha Kidd (Philadelphia, Pa.) scored the lone goal for the Nittany Lions, while Alyssa Kaye (Levittown, Pa.) finished with seven saves in the loss.  

Furman put the Express on the board at 15:44, scoring on a beautiful pass through traffic from Seyda Akyuz (DeWitt, N.Y./Jamesville-Dewitt) for a 1-0 lead. The Express continued to pick things up from there, creating multiple scoring chances but Kaye would make saves on two breakaway shots from Paige Stone (Madison, N.Y./Madison) and Alanna Verderber (Sharon Springs, N.Y./Sharon Springs) and tip away a blast from Mattraw at the last second, holding Abington to a one goal deficit with 18 minutes to play in the half.  

Despite the efforts of Kaye, the Express would not be denied on their next shot as Verderber fed a touch pass to Mattraw who sent a shot into the top left corner of the goal, giving Wells a commanding two goal lead that would hold heading into halftime.  

The Express continued to pressure in the second half, firing ten shots on goal, but the Nittany Lions did not break as the score remained 2-0. The Abington pressure began to pick up as the games end started to near and when Samantha Kidd drove home a shot at 82:27, trimming the Abington deficit to 2-1, it looked as though the only question would be whether or not the Nittany Lions would have enough time to score the equalizer. But the Express did not falter, playing some of their toughest defense of the day, the Express held Abington to just one shot over the final 7:33, a lazy shot that Lawrence easily corralled, as Wells held on for their first victory of the season.    

The Express return to action on Thursday, September 16 against Pitt-Bradford at 3:00 p.m. in Aurora, N.Y.