Rio women shoot down Eagles, earn first win

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - After three straight outings of coming close, the University of Rio Grande women's soccer team finally managed to get over the hump.
     Julia Döller scored the second of her two goals with just over 30 minutes left to play and the RedStorm held on the rest of the way for a 2-1 win over Midway University, Thursday night, in River States Conference play at Evan E. Davis Field.
     Rio Grande improved to 1-4-3 overall and 1-0-2 in conference play, notching the first career win for rookie head coach Brooke Perkins in the process.
     The victory came on the heels of three straight ties after the RedStorm began the season with four consecutive losses.
     Midway dropped to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the RSC with the loss.
     Döller, a senior from Meiningen, Germany, put Rio in front to stay when she played a thru ball into the 18-yard box from freshman teammate Amora Albano (Albany, OH) and then proceeded to beat Midway net-minder Yasmeen Shalash in a 1-v-1 situation after Shalash had ventured off her line.
     The same duo had given the RedStorm an early first half lead when Albano attacked Eagle starting goalie Caylee Thompson from the left side of the goal and then dropped off a pass to Döller in front of the net, who chipped a shot into the goal.
     The advantage didn't last long, though, when Midway's Maggie Sauer netted the equalizer just 43 seconds later.
     Sauer's goal came after a Rio defender failed to clear a crossing pass inside the 18-yard box, setting up an easy one-on-one scoring opportunity.
     The deadlock remained intact until the go-ahead marker by Döller and neither team managed a shot on goal over the final 30:01 of the contest.
     Midway was responsible for all six shots in the match after the go-ahead score, including an attempt by Sauer as time expired which missed just high, but none of the shots were on frame.
     Rio Grande finished with an 18-10 advantage in shots overall and a 9-3 cushion in shots on goal.
     Senior Morgan Nutter (Ashville, OH) had two saves in the win for the RedStorm.
     Thompson played the first half in net for Midway, while Shalash did the same in the second half. Both had three saves.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday evening when it hosts Ohio Christian University in another RSC contest.
     Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.