ABOVE REPLAY: The Titans began regional play Monday night with a 3-1 win against Polk State on the Melbourne Campus in a match.
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Freshman Khadija (Bunny) Shaw broke a 1-1 tie with two goals in 30 seconds to propel Eastern Florida’s No. 1-ranked women’s soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Polk State College on Monday.
The victory at the Titan Soccer Complex on the Melbourne Campus moved Eastern Florida to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in Florida College System Activities Association/NJCAA Region 8 competition.
Polk fell to 1-3 and 0-1.
The teams played to a 0-0 standoff for the first 44 minutes and 57 seconds of the 45-minute first half until Eastern Florida freshman Julia Hernandez beat Polk goalkeeper Sarah McKinney with three seconds to play for a 1-0 lead.
Julia Hernandez
Polk tied things at 1-1 when Kelsey Lewis took advantage of an Eastern Florida misplay to beat leaping goalkeeper Asmara Holmes from 30 yards out with 37:52 to play in the game.
The game remained tied 1-1 until Shaw took over. The Jamaican U-20 National Team member used a feed from defender Helen Ramsey off a corner kick to drive home a shot off the crossbar and into the goal with 22:15 to play for a 2-1 lead.
Fifteen seconds later Shaw unleashed a left-foot scorcher past McKinney for the 3-1 lead.
Khadija Shaw
“The first goal, I wasn’t expecting that, when the center back hit it I thought she was going to hit it to the goal,” Shaw said.
“Coming to me I just made a quick turn and hit it.
“The second one, I saw it coming. Once I had an open goal and I had it on either foot and I am towards the goal I know I am going to score.”
The goal impressed Eastern Florida head coach Jeff Carr who otherwise expressed frustration with his team’s overall performance.
“She’s a gamer,” he said of Shaw. “Matter of fact she came over and said ‘coach can I play holding midfielder?’ That’s where she plays for the Jamaican National Team.
“I said ‘sure’ and all of a sudden everything happened. She’s a different level. She kind of took over the game, a game changer.”
Eastern Florida had to contend with a Polk team that packed into the defensive end, frustrating repeated attempts to move forward and then counterattacking.
Jeff Carr
“We’ve got to move the ball quickly, you’ve got to change your point of attack,” Carr said. “You’ve got to try to draw them out. We were playing way too narrow.
“We played better in the second half. Still it’s got to be better than what we had tonight.”
Defensively the Titans were rarely challenged but Ramsey did clear a Polk shot at an empty net 26 minutes into the first half.
The Titans continue with FCSAA/Region 8 competition on Monday, Sept. 28 as they travel to play Broward College in Pembroke Pines.
Their next home match is Oct. 16 against Darton State College of Albany, Georgia.
The Darton game will be televised live on WEFS-TV and streamed live at www.efsctitans.com
The Titans began regional play Monday night with a 3-1 win against Polk State on the Melbourne Campus in a match. (EFSC image)
