DELAND, Fla. – The Jacksonville Dolphins remain undefeated in ASUN play after a come from behind victory at Stetson, 2-1, Thursday night.
The result improved JU's record to 4-3-4 overall and 2-0-2 in ASUN play. The win was also Jacksonville's first outright road win of the season following a 1-1 draw at Queens the week prior.
Jacksonville handed Stetson its first loss all year when scoring a goal after Stetson took a 1-0 lead in the 64th minute.
That lead lasted just over 3:30 of game time before
Claudia Perez Avila played a give and go game with
Saki Sanno that saw Perez Avila launch a ball outside of the penalty area and over the outstretched arms of the Stetson keeper for a goal and an assist by Sanno.
It was then Sanno's turn to put the game on ice. Sanno took a free kick from the furthest edge of the penalty box and hooked one around the Stetson defensive line for the game's winning goal. Sanno's multi-point evening was the second such game of her JU career, following a one goal and two assist night against Warner.
Sanno's goal and assist were her first since the same Warner game. The sophomore JUCO transfer now leads the 'Phins with three assists. Her two goals are second on the team. Sanno's five shots and four shots on goal led the contest overall.
For Perez Avila, it was her first goal of the season and first points since also adding an assist against Warner.
While the offense may have seen its peak behind Sanno's goal in the 74
th, the JU defense needed to make a few more stops to keep a pesky Stetson side from evening the game.
With under eight minutes to play, Stetson had a breakaway chance on net. Keeper
Taylor Gardner charged the rushing Stetson attacker, knocking the ball away. That ball got a friendly home bounce for the Hatters and settled right on the foot of a trailing offensive player.
A shot went up, but right into the shins of a waiting
Ragna Magnúsdóttir who defended the ball up and out of play with her legs.
Then with less than six minutes of game time, it was Gardner again who came out of the net and lept through the air to swat an oncoming cross away and out of the box.
Gardner started her second ASUN contest of the season Thursday night in her first appearance in two games. She moved to 1-0-1 in ASUN play after a six-save affair in DeLand. Her six saves notched a new career-high at JU for the junior transfer.
Across the ASUN landscape, Jacksonville is third in the league in points (eight) after four games and one conference postponement. In terms of overall win percentage, the Dolphins are second place with a .750 clip.
Jacksonville has another crack at climbing up the conference leader board when it travels to league-leader FGCU on Sunday. The Eagles (3-0-2 ASUN) play host to the Dolphins on Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. for a battle for the top conference spot. FGCU is coming off a 2-1 win over UNF.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"Really happy," head coach
Ryan Moon said of the win. "That's the third game in conference where we've gone behind and had the mentality and confidence to come back and get points. They've grown a lot since we started this year and it's amazing what you can do when you're playing for each other."
