“Sophomore Britni Back and freshman Jordan Baranowski led the University of Akron women’s soccer team to two victories over the weekend. The Zips defeated St. Bonaventure on 2-1 in overtime as Baranowski scored her first collegiate goal on an assist from Back with 52 seconds left to play in OT.”
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Sophomore Britni Back and freshman Jordan Baranowski led the University of Akron women’s soccer team to two victories over the weekend.
The Zips defeated St. Bonaventure on 2-1 in overtime as Baranowski scored her first collegiate goal on an assist from Back with 52 seconds left to play in OT.
St. Bonaventure scored its first goal quickly on a Courtney Bosse goal just 1:42 into the game but the Zips took over the game shortly after.
Back continued her early season dominance with a goal at 13:05 on a Jordan Clark shot that deflected off the post. Clark was credited with the assist.
Britni is an unbelievable player, coach Cathrine Byrne said. She is one of the savviest players we have on the team.
A healthy Back has helped the Zips begin their season 3-0-1.
She is coming back from Anterior Cruciate Ligament tears in both of her knees, as well as a broken collar bone.
Back’s confidence has been building and she is a rising junior, Byrne said.
It took more than a healthy Back to accomplish the overtime victory, though.
Byrne said she told her players they had the capability and talent to beat St. Bonaventure before they started the overtime.
I told them to focus on the game plan and that we were the better team, Byrne said.
These games are preparation for us to do a better job in the MAC, she said.
The Zips had momentum going into their game Sunday against Canisius after the overtime win.
Back and Baranowski connected again in the 17th minute, but their roles were flipped this time around.
Back scored the goal, her third of the year, and Baranowski got the first assist of her collegiate career.
Defensively, the Zips were able to hold their opponents to one goal, and senior goalkeeper Krystin Wilson got the 12th shutout of her career.
Byrne said that Canisius became more physical in the second half and the game turned into an individual battle.
Collectively, the Zips won the individual battles to secure an undefeated weekend.
I think at the end of the day, the bottom line is how many more shots do you need to score to win? Byrne said. One, and we did that.
If you don’t finish, you don’t win.
The UA women finished, won both games and will look to continue their early success Friday as they host Cleveland State at Lee Jackson Field at 7:30 p.m.
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