JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Women's soccer carried a 1-0 lead into the half after senior Brittney Brooks found the back of the net for her second goal of the season off an assist from sophomore Allison Nagle. However, NCAA DII Pittsburgh-Johnstown (2-1) would storm back with two goals of its own in the second half and defeat the Bears (1-3) by a 2-1 final on Monday afternoon.
Despite constant traffic in front of her goal, sophomore Shelbi Halverson stopped seven of UPJ's nine shots on goal. Her counterpart, Timi Shiock would stop three of the Bears' four shots on frame to come away with the win.
The Mountain Cats opened up play with the upper hand in the offensive zone with three corner attempts and several shots, but Shawnee State's defense would not allow a shot on goal in the early going as it forced all the attempts to sail wide of the goal.
The first shot on goal of the game would belong to the Bears' Brooks. Off a feed from Nagle, she beat the goalie on the through pass in the 20th minute to put her team up 1-0. The goal was the 35th of Brooks' career and her second this season. For Nagle, it was her first assist of the young season after leading the team in that category a season ago.
After the first 45 minutes of play, the Mountain Cats would own a 9-5 advantage in total shots, but three saves by Halverson would preserve the Shawnee State lead going into the half. However, just over eight minutes into the second half, UPJ would find the equalizer. On a cross into the box, the Mountain Cats' Laura Hoehn and Jackie Becerra connected to tie the game in the 54th minute.
UPJ kept the pressure up as the Bears' defense blocked two more shots and Halverson made two more saves. But just five minutes after the first Mountain Cats' goal, they would tally again as Janna Stoup and Savanna Wingard got together to give their team a 2-1 lead.
Shawnee State would have its attempts to tie the game stifled as Brooks' shot was blocked in the 61st minute and a shot on goal from Bethany Ward was saved in the 80th minute of play.
For the game, Brooks and Staci Johnson each finished with three shots. Brooks' only shot on target was the Bears' lone goal, while Johnson put two attempts on frame. Nagle also attempted two shots in addition to Ward's shot in the final minutes.
After playing its first game on the road, the Bears will be back at home this Saturday as part of Alumni Weekend against Bluffton University at 1 p.m. That match will be a doubleheader with the men's team playing Bluffton at 3 p.m.
