ERIE, Pa. – The Baldwin Wallace women's soccer team scored three unanswered goals to defeat Penn State Behrend 3-1 and capture the 2017 Herb Lauffer Memorial Tournament on Saturday evening.
The Yellow Jackets (2-0) rallied down a goal in the first half to get the equalizer with 1:27 left in the first half and then netted two goals within two minutes to earn their third straight HLM championship. Rachel Bender earned MVP honors for Baldwin Wallace, netting a goal to go with three assists for the weekend.
The Lions got their lone goal from senior Jordan Oberlander (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBeouf), who scored the first in each of the two games for Behrend. Olivia Belack (Upper St. Clair, PA/Upper St. Clair) tallied another assist, sending a long cross in and finding Oberlander for the straight shot from the middle of the box for a 1-0 lead at the 5:52 mark.
Oberlander had a chance to make it 2-0 in the 10th minute with her shot just hit the crossbar instead of going but Alex Elliott also hit the post just eight minutes later for the Yellow Jackets to call it even.
Elliott eventually scored with a header off a set piece from Lauren Haynam in the 44th minute.
Both teams played through rain and slick conditions, getting opportunities to break open the game. The Yellow Jackets were fortunate to get late and quick back-to-back goals with 10 minutes left for the victory.
The Lions netminder Ania Gorski (Harborcreek, PA/Harbor Creek) made eight saves on 20 shots fired by Baldwin Wallace.
Behrend returns to action on Wednesday at Case Western Reserve. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
