Jeff Yoder | Echo
The game's opening whistle took place at 7 p.m. Wednesday evening. By 7:06 p.m. Taylor had a 2-0 lead and never looked back, finishing off conference opponent Bethel, 4-1. The win punched Taylor's ticket to the Crossroads League Tournament.
The first goal of the night came early as junior forward Dani Goecke found the net from a Christi Dithrich cross in the 2nd minute. Four minutes later, Dithrich placed a pass over the top of the Bethel defense where sophomore forward Emily Brydon took the ball and beat the Pilot goalkeeper in a 1-on-1 breakaway.
Bethel answered later in the half to cut the lead to 2-1. Soon after, Brydon found Goecke at the top of the box for a shot that was deflected. Goecke then tracked down the rebound and tapped in her second goal of the contest, giving Taylor a 3-1 edge at halftime.
TU fired a flurry of shots early in the second half as Goecke, Brydon, junior Amanda Roden and senior Molly Drooger all had good looks. The icing on the cake came in the 56th minute as Roden netted a header off a corner kick from Brydon. With a 4-1 lead, the Trojans coasted the rest of the way to a second straight conference win.
Taylor outshot Bethel 27-8 in the contest while putting 17 of those attempts on goal. Junior goalkeeper Kristiana Griffith hauled in four saves on the night.
The women's squad is now a lock for the Crossroads League Tournament with a conference record of 3-5 and 10-6 overall. Taylor hosts Mount Vernon Nazarene at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Photography by Timothy P. Riethmiller
