BECKLEY, W. Va. -- Going any period of time without a win can be difficult on an individual or on an entire team.
However, that simply makes cashing in on a triumph that much more sweet when it is accomplished -- especially when progression is evident.
In a Thursday evening River States Conference matchup against the West Virginia Tech Golden Bears' women's soccer program, the women's soccer program at Shawnee State put the pieces together by asserting itself early, getting two fantasticially placed first-half salvos from Annie Coriell and Isabelle Riddle, and outplaying West Virginia Tech over the opening half of competition to secure a 2-1 triumph and get Shawnee State head coach Joe McCauley his first victory at SSU in an impressive and gritty display of soccer.
Tale of the Tape
During the contest, Shawnee State built an early shot advantage by outplaying West Virginia Tech over the entirety of the first half, posting a 6-3 advantage in shots in the opening half alone en route to notching a 10-9 edge in shots for the conference matchup. The Bears also posted nine shots on goal to the Golden Bears' six, and SSU committed just one offside while West Virginia Tech was called for four offsides.
Coriell rings the bell; Riddle me a win
Led by two well-placed attempts by Alex Hurn over a four-minute stretch between the 14th and 18th minutes of action, as well as a shot attempt from the right side by Lucie Ashkettle that just narrowly missed off to the left side in the 25th frame of action, the Bears were able to keep West Virginia Tech on their heels throughout the opening half of play.
The attempts certainly aided in the opportunities that were to come.
In two shots that proved to be similar in form, Annie Coriell and Isabelle Riddle got on the board for the first time in the 2024 campaign just one minute apart from one another.
First, it was Coriell -- who, in the 36th minute, pulled on a shot from well outside the box and took advantage of junior goalkeeper Sandra Garcia Quilez, who was too far up to stop the high-sailing shot as it nestled comfortably over Quilez's head for the initial salvo.
Then, it was Riddle's turn.
Just 55 seconds later and officially in the 37th minute, the freshman defender -- just a mere 12 to 15 steps from inside the midfield stripe -- put together an incredibly well-placed shot of her own, taking advantage of the same misjudgement that Quilez made with Coriell's attempt en route to putting the Bears up with a massive second goal.
Thursday's salvo in the 36th minute marked the fifth goal of Coriell's career -- and her 11th point overall -- while Riddle nabbed the first goal of her career in the triumph.
McCauley gets first victory at Shawnee State
A former goalkeeper at the University of Louisville who parlayed his collegiate goalkeeping successes into a coaching career that has spanned three decades in time, the progression under the Bears has been evident under Joe McCauley, especially over the past three contests.
Over the last three affairs, Shawnee State is 1-1-1 (three goals for and three allowed) with all three contests decided by a goal or less -- as the Bears tied with Indiana-East, 1-1, lost in a scant 1-0 defeat to Oakland City and came through Thursday with a 2-1 victory over West Virginia Tech.
McCauley's knowledge in goal, along with that of Shawnee State assistant coach Chris Murphy, who aided McCauley in helping construct the roster, has paid dividends in the form of freshman Harlee Brand -- who has now stopped 23 out of the last 26 shots that she's faced.
Despite giving up a salvo to the Golden Bears' Angelica Taylor with 42 seconds left in the match, Brand didn't allow another goal as the Winchester, Ohio native made five saves including a sliding stop in the 57th minute to help preserve the result.
Additional
Shawnee State (1-7-2, 1-2-1 River States Conference) will turn its attention to another big River States Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. as the Bears face Brescia (Ky.) in a road contest that will be held at Kamuf Park in Owensboro, Ky.
