LONDON, Ont. - Second-year midfielder Giula Geraci helped lead the Western women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over the Brock Badgers on Saturday afternoon on Mustang Field.
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 2-0-2 on the season as they surpass Brock in the OUA West division standings and sit atop the division. Brock's loss gives them a 2-1-1 record early in the season as they swap positions with the purple and white and sit in second in the OUA West division.
Geraci scored her fourth goal of the season in what ended up being the game-deciding goal. Geraci not only leads the team in scoring but is now tied for first in the country in goals scored.
"It was a team effort, honestly," said Geraci. "Our back-three on defence is incredible. They've been very compact when they need to be and their counter-attacking hasn't allowed much through. We always count on them in these low scoring games."
"Giulia Geraci's creativity and quality on the ball is excellent, so for us to be effective, we need her scoring and creating goals," said Head Coach Martin Painter. "She was dangerous yesterday and she was scoring and creating goals today. She's an incredibly valuable player for us and she has been from the moment she stepped into the program."
Western controlled the ball for the majority of the opening half, denying Brock scoring opportunities and pressuring the defence on the other end of the pitch. Neither team managed to earn any shots on goal through the first 20 minutes of the half until Western's #Morgan Asling# just narrowly missed on a well earned scoring opportunity.
However, Western would eventually convert on yet another golden scoring chance, as Western's Geraci broke open the scoring for the purple and white at the 37:43 mark, as the Mustangs entered the second half with a 1-0 lead.
Brock's offence pressured the purple and white early in the second half, controlling the ball and threatening to score on several occasions. However, the Mustangs' defence would rally to maintain the slim 1-0 lead. Despite the initial press from Brock, Western's strikers created a string of scoring opportunities just minutes later, yet a pair of near-misses left both teams scoreless in the second half as the Mustangs would go on to earn the 1-0 victory.
"I feel so much more comfortable being in my sophomore season," said Geraci. "I feel like I learned a lot from the coaching staff and my older teammates in my rookie year, so I'm ready to contribute on a higher level this season."
"Integrating all our young players into our system is definitely one of the biggest challenges for us, especially this early into the season," said Martin Painter. "Getting a new group together in a short period of time is always difficult, but I like the chemistry we have so far. We have key returning players who have been great for us so far and we have a lot of new and promising talent. I like the way we've come together."
The Mustangs will be back in action next Sunday, September 9, where they will take on the Waterloo Warriors at home on Mustang Field. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 P.M. EST.