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Final: Ohio Valley 3, Point Park 0

Center back, Josie Valeri
Photo courtesy Point Park Athletics
RIVER STATES CONFERENCE (NAIA) WOMEN’S SOCCER SEMIFINALS

FINAL: Ohio Valley 3, Point Park 0

RSC Game Central – Game Stats

Match Summary

VIENNA, W. Vg. — Ohio Valley (12-1-1, 11-0-0 RSC) moves on to the River States Conference final beating Point Park 3-0. This is Ohio Valley’s first year in the RSC and NAIA, making it to the final in their first season.

Point Park finishes (8-8-3, 6-2-3 RSC). Under Head Coach John Newbery, the women make it to the semifinal for the second consecutive year.

In the first half, the Pioneers started off strong with a fast attack for the first 10 minutes. The Fighting Scots under Head Coach Eric Belcher started to settle in and gain possession for the final 35 minutes.

Finally, in the second half, the home team struck first. It was Manuela Filipe off a brilliant volley making it 1-0.

The Fighting Scots were not finished.

Sandra Lima finished a chip off a pass from Raewyn Murphy, and then Oihane Abascal scores a long distance bullet off a pass from Marina Lima.

Ohio Valley moves on winning the game 3-0 and will play #2 Rio Grande or #3 IU East this Saturday, November 13. They will remain at home since they’re the #1 seed.

Gameday Updates 

83′- Oh my what a goal! Off the volley from 25 yards out is Oihane Abascal finishing it in the top right corner. Assist to Marina Liima. 3-0 Ohio Valley

77′ – Ohio Valley almost scores again. Oihane Abascal pikes one over the net from just 4 yards out off a pass.

72′ – Another goal for the Fighting Scots. Great ball through the defense by Raewyn Murphy setting up Sandra Linares who chips it over Serlin. 2-0

67′ – Manuela Filipe of Ohio Valley scores. Josie Valeri head the ball out on a clearance, and Filipe shot it in off the volley. Great finish. 1-0 Fighting Scots

64′ – Wolford takes a shot from distance going way over the net

57′ – And going the other way, Manuela Filipe almost scores! Great shot from outside the box just goes over the crossbar. Still a tie game 0-0

55′ – Big chance for the Pioneers! Wolford makes a great cross off a corner kick and Athena Beck gets a head on it but just not enough. Save by Kanto

45′ – 2nd half begins. I feel like all it’ll take is just 1 goal to win this game

Half – Score remains 0-0. Ohio Valley with a last minute corner kick chance but cleared out by the Pioneers. Point Park had a strong 10 minutes but then the Fighting Scots mainly held possession for the last 35

35′ – Ohio Valley defensively is in a 4-5-1 but when attacking it looks more like a 4-2-3-1 specifically

24′ – Manuela Filipe is down. Looks like she got the wind knocked out of her but play has stopped and both teams are drinking water near the sideline now.

22′ – Good one touch passing from the Fighting Scots in the final third. Forwards really showing how dynamic they can be up top

18′ – Raewyn Murphy hits the crossbar!! 30 yards out. Almost the first goal of the game. Still 0-0

12′ – Manuela Filipe with the first shot for Ohio Valley off a corner kick. Shot directly at Ella Serlin who makes the save.

8′ – Some good dribbling skill shown off by #20 Ana Rodrigues of Ohio Valley. She started on the right side but is now on the left side of the field

3′ – Josie Valeri off a corner kick knees the ball high over the net. First shot of the game.

1′ – Game starts here in Vienna, W. Va. Grass field but it looks flat.

 

Preview

VIENNA, W.Va. — Point Park University women’s soccer is traveling to Vienna, W.Va., in preparation to play at Ohio Valley (W.Va.) University in the River States Conference Championship semifinals. Kickoff is 1:00 p.m. ET.
The Pioneers (8-7-3, 6-2-3 RSC) are the No. 4 seed in the six-team bracket facing the No. 1 seed Ohio Valley (11-1-1, 11-0-0 RSC). The winner will move on to play No. 2 Rio Grande or No. 3 IU East in the RSC Championship Final on Nov. 13.
Watch Live on the RSC Game Central and follow live stats on the NAIA website with links to live coverage above.

This Series – Point Park

The Pioneers all-time are 0-3 against Ohio Valley, although only this year’s matchup was when the Fighting Scots were a part of the RSC. There were also a couple of matchups in 2012 and 2013. Back on Sep. 30, Point Park lost a heartbreaker at Ohio Valley, 2-1, in OT.
“Ohio Valley is a tricky team to play against,” said Point Park head coach John Newbery. “They deservedly went undefeated in the regular season and will be a tough test for us.”
In goal, Point Park’s Ella Serlin now has 64 saves on the year. Her impressive 8-save game in the quarterfinals earned her RSC Defensive Player of the Week.
Point Park assistant and goalie coach Antonio Barona stated, “I think Ella proved how mature she’s become in goal and had a perfect game. She deserved this award.”
In the conference she’s ranked third in save percentage (.842), third in goals against average (.85), and fourth in goals allowed (12).
Under second-year coach Newbery, he’s put his squad in a 3-5-2 formation in front of Serlin this season. The formation requires, three strong center backs. The Pioneers were short handed in the backline during their quarterfinal win over IU Kokomo. This was due to injury and personnel issues. They hope to be more toward full strength for the semifinals.
A key player who has helped the Pioneers wether some injuries and personnel losses in the defensive half of the field has been Athena Beck. She has the ability to play center back or anywhere in the center midfield. She has been a force on defense and can also get involved in the scoring as she did assisting on the double overtime winner versus IU Kokomo on a long pass up ahead.
Also, on defense has been Junior, Josie Valeri who is an academy coach for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds organization. And joining her, is a freshman from Ontario, Canada, Alina Bigec. This core has only allowed 1.23 goals allowed per game on average. Abigail Gnass and Kelsee McHugh have also made up the defensive unit as wing backs.
Offensively, Tamaya Wolford, who scored the golden goal last game, defeating IU Kokomo 1-0 in double OT, is the leading goal scorer with six goals and five assists. She continues to take the teams corner kicks, and her aggressive play up top pressing defensively sets the pace for the team to defend.
Joining Wolford at forward has been Nola McGuire. In her senior year she’s produced four goals and two assists.
The Pioneers continue to be a clutch team scoring 16 of their 24 goals in the second half or OT.

Scouting Ohio Valley

The Fighting Scots boast an 11-1-1 overall record and are undefeated 11-0-0 in conference play. Their only tie and loss came to non-conference teams Georgetown (Ky.) and Bluefield State (W.Va.). The Fighting Scots are riding an 11-game win streak into the semifinals.
In net is senior Sindi Kanto. She ranks first in the conference in goals against average (.64) and ranks first in goals allowed (8).
On offense, Oihane Abascal, a sophomore from Spain, has scored seven goals and leads the team with 14 points. Another sophomore is Manuela Filipe, a native of Portugal, who has produced five goals and one assist. At defensive midfield, another sophomore from Portugal, Ana Rodrigues, has the most assists on the team with five.
In all, the Fighting Scots have 10 different players who have a goal and/or an assist.  Ohio Valley’s team has 14 different players from outside America, and only has two players from the states (Kentucky and Florida).
The Fighting Scots specialize in great defense being first in the conference in goals allowed with only 12 all season. Despite being No. 1 in the conference standings, Ohio Valley is just fifth in the league in goals scored with 27. Point Park is right behind at sixth in the conference with 24 total goals. if the Pioneers play well defensively, they have a great opportunity to win.
“I think we will make it a competitive game,” said Newbery. “Our goal is to avenge the overtime loss we had early in our conference schedule.”
When the teams met previously, it was a showdown for first place as Point Park was 3-0 RSC and Ohio Valley was 4-0. Point Park has lost just one time since then with a 4-1-3 record since that Sept. 30 matchup. And the Pioneers are riding an unbeaten streak of their own in the semifinals. Point Park is 3-0-2 in its last five games, a stretch that was encouraging to Newbery.

Jordan joined the Pittsburgh Soccer Now team in 2020 as a contributor to Riverhounds SC & WPIAL coverage. He also just obtained a MBA at Point Park University while being the Graduate Assistant in the Athletics department. Jordan, during his undergrad four years at La Roche University, interned and worked part time for every pro team and several universities in Pittsburgh: Riverhounds SC, Pirates, University of Pittsburgh, La Roche University, Duquesne University, Steelers and the Penguins. With all of these experiences he began to gain a passion to work in sports as a career. Smith played cup soccer for Century United and Beadling during his youth years and also trained with the Riverhounds. He attended South Fayette High School where he helped his team win WPIAL's and a section title his senior year in 2015, while earning All-Section and All-WPIAL honors.

Glory on the Grass

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

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