Segan nets hat trick as girls improve to 11-0
Northwestern Lehigh sophomore Sarah Segan is having one remarkable season for the Tigers' girls soccer team.
Segan entered last Thursday's game against Salisbury as the Colonial League's leader in goals scored. In the Tigers' (11-0 overall; 8-0 in Colonial league) 3-0 victory over the Falcons (6-4 overall; 6-2 in Colonial League) at Salisbury High School, Segan netted all three goals, bringing her total to 24 in just 10 games this season.
And she'll be the first to tell you that she couldn't have imagined how the season has unfolded.
"No not at all," said Segan. "Last year I only had 17 so I'm moving on a good pace this year."
"It's great because they're one of the better teams," said Segan. "And the fact that we beat them is just always great. It was tough [and] they were very physical, [but] we kept with it."
Just over five minutes into the game, Segan was taken down in the penalty box, giving her an easy opportunity to knock in her 22nd. And her shot toward the bottom left of the goal found its way past Falcon goalkeeper Emily Hoats to make it 1-0.
"Whenever we get a goal right away it always gets the mood going and feels good," said Segan.
Nearly 29 minutes later, Segan and the Tigers had another opportunity on a free kick from roughly 20 yards out. Sophomore Sabrina Mertz' attempt on goal was initially saved by the Falcons, but Segan was there to connect on the put back at the first half's 15:40 mark.
The Falcons, however, wouldn't go away quietly in the second half.
In fact Salisbury had an opportunity just 1:35 into the second half to cut its deficit in half. Kori Hadinger was taken down in the penalty box. But Tiger goalkeeper Laura Hill made a huge save on Marisa Strunk's penalty shot that kept the Falcons scoreless.
"Laura did such a great job," said Segan. "I was confident in her. She's such a great goal keeper."
Hill then rose to the challenge again for the Tigers. A Falcon free kick from the 18-yard mark was lobbed over the Tigers' line of defense, but Hill was stationed in goal ready for the save. Just under six minutes later, a Falcon shot from Sara Galantini seemed it would find the back of the net, but a diving effort from Hill prevented any damage.
Then, just minutes later, Segan made sure there would be no comeback in the script. After dribbling past a few defenders, Segan's blast from about 13 yards out bounced off Hoats' hands and into goal.
"I think we're doing good," said Segan. "We made some changes and we're trying to work on our new formation. Even at halftime of this game we made a couple changes and its been so much better."
Segan added three more goals in Monday's 4-0 shutout over Bangor, bringing her total to 27 on the season.
The Tigers get back in action Thursday when they host Northern Lehigh at 7:30 p.m.