NEW YORK, NY – Senior midfielder Megan Lighty (Vienna, VA/Juan Diego Catholic) closed out the 2016 season with a four-goal performance as Pratt Institute women's soccer defeated Yeshiva University 7-1 Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore forward Katherine Shan (Palo Alto, CA/Palo Alto Senior) recorded a pair of goals for the fourth straight game as Pratt improved to 4-0 in the first season since the return of women's soccer as an intercollegiate offering. Yeshiva fell to 1-14. The lone goal scored by the Maccabees was the only goal scored against the Cannoneers this season.
"To finish a season undefeated, let alone a winning record with one goal conceded, was simply unimaginable when we started the program," said head coach Jonas Worth. "I am particularly happy that we started the season the way finished: adapting to our opponent (Yeshiva) and finding the best ways to beat them."
Sophomore Carlyle MacDonald (Sewickley, PA/Quaker Valley) opened the game's scoring, beating Gabriella Chutter in the 10th minute. Shan followed with her seventh of the season just 38 seconds later. Lighty and Shan would then score back-to-back goals to extend the Pratt lead to four in the 22nd minute.
Yeshiva would get on the board in the 28th minute when Moreet Levine beat Morgan Holub (Raleigh, NC/Cardinal Gibbons) after a Natasha Bassalian corner kick. The goal would be the only shot on goal registered by Yeshiva in four attempts.
The Pratt scoring would resume immediately after halftime when Lighty scored an unassisted goal just 51 seconds into the second frame. The senior would complete her hat trick just 29 seconds later and then added a goal in the 52nd minute for her ninth goal of the season.
"For all the seniors, it was a special finish to an experience that many of them thought they would never have at Pratt," Worth added. "While we will miss the likes of Megan Lighty, Chloe Icay and Alexis Richbart, I am proud to have known them so well in a short period of time and feel assured that they will have a huge impact on the world as Pratt grads. Their success here and in their future work laid the foundation for winning with this program."
Lighty finishes the season as the team leader with nine goals. Holub and Courtney Dreher (Troy, NY/Taramac) split in goal, with each goalkeeper picked up two wins. It is anticipated that men's and women's soccer with compete in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2017.
