Falcons Blank Saints, 2-0, in Home & Season Opener

USAFA, Colo. – The Air Force Academy women's soccer team got the 2019 season off on the right foot with a commanding 2-0 win over Siena, Friday night, August 23, at Cadet Soccer Stadium. The Falcons (1-0) had two first half tallies that proved to be the difference, as Air Force won on a shutout in an opening game for the first time since 2015.

"It was a good night for the Falcons," Head Coach Larry Friend exclaimed. "We had a great preseason as a very young team. We had some great performances today from the freshmen which we will look to build on when we play Sunday."

Logging that shutout in net was junior Danielle Katz, in her first career AF start. The backstop recorded three saves on the night while facing eight Siena (0-1) shots. Senior co-captain defender Kasey Stavig played all 90 minutes on the backline in the shutout as well.

On offense, the goal scorers were junior Alex Giggie and freshman Lexi Romero. Giggie's first career goal was on a set piece, while Romero's first career score was on a beautiful flick pass from fellow freshman Emiley Benner.

The first 20 minutes of the game saw a couple shots, but no other action from either side. That changed in the 20th minute when a foul occurred just outside the box. With a free kick, Giggie buried the shot in the top left corner of the net to open the scoring.

From there, AF kept the pressure on, firing five more shots to keep the Saints on their heels. This culminated with a perfect chance in the 44th minute as Benner gained control, flicked a perfect ball past defenders, and Romero capitalized on a wide open net to make it 2-0 going into the half.

In the second half, the defenses played lock down soccer, as AF tallied five shots and Siena just four. Katz had two big saves in the second half, and this allowed the Falcons to take the 2-0 victory.

Air Force will be back in action Sunday, August 25, when they host Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Kickoff from Cadet Soccer Stadium is set for noon.

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