Fresh off its first-ever national ranking, the No. 22 Fredonia State women's soccer team produced an efficient 5-1 victory over visiting St. John Fisher on Tuesday. Led by the duo of Katie Kleine and Reilly Condidorio, the Devils improved to 5-1-0.
"Definitely one of our concerns was if we were going to have a let down after such a big win (Saturday)," Fredonia State head coach Chris Case said. "We had a goal two minutes into the game and it was awesome to see our team play that way. It was a good sign right away."
Kleine scored twice and assisted on Condidorio's only score of the game. Condidorio added a pair of assists.
Article Photos
"We had five shots on goal (at one point) and four went in," Case said. "That was pretty good in my mind."
Goals aside, it was a relatively evenly played first half. Fisher outshot the Devils, 11-10 and held a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks. Both teams had five shots on goal. However, the Devils converted on four out of the five opportunities and led 4-1 at the break.
"(St. John Fisher) was 3-1-2 and it's not like they were a bad team," Case said. "They've played some good teams so far and we came out and just smacked them (Tuesday). It was nice to see us take ownership of our National ranking."
The Devils wasted no time in getting on the board. Just two minutes into the contest, Condidorio made a long pass to Kleine who was cutting down the center of the field. Kleine beat the Fisher goalkeeper, Sydney DeVitto, one-on-one for her third goal of the season.
"I knew we had some good players," Case said. "It was going to be continuity and confidence. One thing we have right now is confidence. To go and beat the No. 1 team on the road and come home and beat a respectable team, to me, that's a great statement."
The Cardinals answered right back just over eight minutes into the game. Chelsea Oberkreiser connected from the top of the 18-foot box to the far right corner of the goal. It was her third goal of the year. She was assisted by Heather Konieczny.
The Devils upped the lead to 2-1 on a Kristi Putzig score. Putzig took a pass from the right sideline from Maggie Horan and shot the ball over the top of the outstretched arms of DeVitto.
The Kleine-Condidorio connection teamed up to make it 3-1 in the 34th minute, this time besting new Fisher keeper Jessica Ploukas.
The Devil Duo reversed roles a minute later as Kleine lobbed a ball into the goalie box and Condidorio tapped it over the head of Plukas while holding off a defender, for her second goal of the season.
Maria Green added an unassisted goal in the 83rd minute to produce the 5-1 final. It was Green's first score of the year.
For the game, Fisher outshot the Devils 18-14 and held a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal. Meaghan Meszaros made eight saves in goal for the Devils.
Fisher drops to 3-2-1 on the year.
The Devils improve to 5-1-0 on the season. They open up conference play this weekend, traveling to Geneseo and Brockport.
"I'm very pleased with where we are right now," Case said. "But as we know, conference game are hard to win. That's where our heads are right now. We're going to get ready for our first conference game on Friday."
