No. 6 Fire cool off JBU women
After taking a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute, the No. 24 John Brown University women’s soccer team saw No. 6 Southeastern (Fla.) score three unanswered as the visiting Fire grabbed a 3-1 victory at Alumni Field on Saturday night.
Senior Jastin Redman tallied her third of the season off a free kick from just outside the box that slipped through SEU keeper Holly Eddins’ hands to place John Brown in the lead.
The lead lasted exactly 10 minutes, however, as Fire forward Uchenna Kanu finished off a broken play by letting a shot from outside the box go that just squeezed under sophomore keeper Caitlyn Logan’s arm, knotting the score at 1-1.
With both teams’ scoreless
stretches broken, Southeastern (4-0) rode two more goals from Kanu — a Nigerian U20 National Team player — in the second half to complete her 11th career hat trick.
Kanu notched the goahead goal in the 60th minute after midfielder Gabriella DiDio played a through ball to her which Kanu finished at the top of the 18 to the far left post.
She completed the hat trick just six minutes later. Taking control of a 50-50 ball at the top of the 18, Kanu turned, and rifled a rip into the upper left corner.
The Fire outshot the Golden Eagles (3-1) by a 17-13 margin, but the hosts could only manage three shots on target, as Eddins made a pair of saves in the win.
Just three minutes into the second half, an Aspen Carpenter header beat Eddins but hit the bottom of the crossbar, never crossing the line. In the 52nd minute, Redman made easy work of her defender and cut back into the middle with a clear window to goal, but let go a 20-yard shot that cleared over the crossbar.
Kanu had a chance to net four goals in the match, as she opened up the contest by letting a long-range blast go that found the crossbar just 81 seconds into the match.
It was John Brown’s first regular-season loss at Alumni Field since Sept. 10, 2015.
Logan finished with three saves as Kanu piled up 11 shot attempts in the contest, four finding the target.
The Golden Eagles will now travel to Orange Beach, Ala., to face William Carey (Miss.) and Mobile (Ala.), respectively, in nonconference action Thursday and Friday.