Angela Oliveto dribbles the soccer ball. Oliveto scored a goal against Kean. (Contributor / Chris Taylor)
Rowan women’s soccer increased their unbeaten streak to nine matches on Wednesday, winning, 3-0, over the Kean Cougars at the Rowan Soccer and Lacrosse Complex. The brown and gold are now 12-1-1 on the season, and with a 6-0-1 conference record, the Profs have 19 points and remain atop the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC).
“Good defense creates good offense,” head coach Scott Leacott said. “When you don’t give up a shot, it’s hard to lose a game.”
No. 11-ranked Rowan came out wanting to dominate, controlling possession and taking a multitude of dangerous shots. The scoring started in the 14th minute when sophomore Angela Oliveto fired a pass toward the net, where Bella Moore would tap in her eighth goal of the fall.
In the seconds that followed, Olivia Giordano took a corner from the far side that was initially punched out of the box by Kean’s keeper. Before a packed home crowd knew it, Julianna Giordano charged in from the top of the box and sent a powerful volley into the right corner to make it 2-0.
After scoring two goals in a minute of play, the Profs’ offense consistently kept applying pressure on Kean’s back line entering the second half. Once the match reached its 74th minute, Rowan would find their third goal to close out the Cougars.
At that instance, sophomore Siena Sowers, in her first start this year, played a high-arcing cross into the box from the near side. With the ball loose, Oliveto’s right foot struck gold on a bounce and found the upper corner of the netting. Oliveto has scored five of her six goals this season in the last three fixtures alone.
“I think my confidence has definitely risen a lot since the beginning of the season,” Oliveto said. “I feel like I have always been in the right spots, but I haven’t been able to finish, and I think now something finally clicked.”
In addition to taking a season-high 40 shots, the Profs earned their NJAC-leading tenth clean sheet while never allowing a single opposing shot in a match for the third time this season.
“You can see all eleven girls play defense,” Leacott said. “I just think we have a bunch of winners on our team who want to get after it and love playing the game, and that helps a lot too.”
By becoming the victors against Kean, Rowan displayed a definitive response coming off a 2-2 draw at Montclair State last Saturday.
“We had to close the game out, and I think that’s what we need to work better on,” Oliveto said. “Getting it done early here is like our goal.”
Rowan women’s soccer will play its final home game of the regular season against a struggling Ramapo side on what should be a memorable night for seniors and alumni this weekend.
“It’s going to be a really, really nice crowd,” Leacott said. “We’re looking forward to it, and I think they’re looking forward to it also.”
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