Tartans Move to 3-0 with 1-0 Win Against Capital

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The No. 5 Carnegie Mellon University women's soccer team hosted Capital University for its third game in five days on Sunday, September 5, defeating the Crusaders, 1-0. The win moves the Tartans to 3-0 for the year with two road games next on the schedule.

The Tartans had two shots early with the first off the foot of junior Camila Bodden (San Francisco, Calif. / Lowell) which was saved in the first 30 seconds of the game. Junior Helena Spencer (Warrenton, Va. / Patriot) followed that with a shot just wide of the goal in the early seconds of the fourth minute that deflected out for a corner kick. Capital's Lexi Snider ran the distance of the field on a counter attack for a one-on-one with Tartan keeper Carolyn Botz (St. Louis, Mo. / MICDS). Defensive pressure by juniors Nikki Hasson () and Rachel Legg () helped thwart the attempt by Snider who didn't get a great strike on the ball for Botz to make the save.

A free kick opportunity for Capital in the 20th minute yielded a shot by Aaliyah Brietic but the save was easy for Botz to grab.

The Tartans broke through in the 31st minute when senior Marissa McAfee (Cumming, Ga. / South Forsyth) dribbled through the middle of the field and layed a ball off to freshman Alana Frederick (New York, N.Y. / Sacred Heart Greenwich) outside the 18-yard box to the righ tof the goal. Frederick beat a defender to the goal line and played a diagonal ball back through the penalty box where freshman Ayana Curto (Washington, D.C. / Georgetown Day School) had a free run to it for a left-footed shot to the lower right corner. The shot, headed inside the post was deflected in by a defender trying to make a sliding save. The goal is Curto's first career score while Frederick picked up her eighth point of the season for the Tartans.

The second half was dominated in possession by the Tartans with the home team firing off four shots in the first five minutes. Lauren White made two saves on shots by Spencer and junior Alex Adams (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) to keep the score at 1-0.

Capital's last shot of the game came in the 59th minute with Botz there again to make the easy save. 

The Tartans put five more shots on frame with White either pushing them out or smothering them to limit the Tartans to just one goal for the game.

"It's amazing to see our team going so strong after playing so many games in so little time," said Botz. "I think it's a testimate to our fitness level and work level and I'm very excited to see what's to come this season."

The Tartans will hit the road to face Farmingdale State (1-1) at Misericordia on Saturday, September 11 at 4:00 p.m. before playing Misericordia at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Both opponents have routinely played the in the NCAA tournament like the Tartans.