Rowan women’s soccer was down 2-1 to Swarthmore with only 43 seconds remaining in the game when Julianna Giordano scored her first career goal to tie the game 2-2, which ended up being the final score of the game.
It was a tight contest throughout, with both teams scoring goals in the first half, but with time winding down and the Profs on the verge of a loss, Julianna knew that the team needed that goal.
“I was just thinking, ‘We need to score right now; this is what will carry us through the season. We just need one goal, and then all heads will not be hanging anymore,” Giordano said. “I wasn’t looking for a tie because, at that point, I was not losing this game.”
Her twin sister, Olivia Giordano, who was in the game at the time Julianna scored, was probably just as, if not more, excited than her sister when the ball hit the back of the net.
“Amazing! There’s no better feeling in the world than seeing her score,” Olivia said.
Head Coach Scott Leacott was ecstatic about the goal. In fact, he was so excited that he didn’t know which Giordano scored the goal.
“I did not know Julianna scored it at first. I thought it was Olivia,” Leacott said. “I’m not surprised because she’s a very physical presence for us. She was actually hanging outside the 18th on the corner kick. I said, ‘No, get in there. Get in there. Let the other two. But you know, Olivia is the one who scores all the goals, Julianna is the one who keeps them out of our goal.”
Julianna was not the only Giordano who scored today. Olivia also came up with a crucial goal near the end of the first half on a breakaway from the Swarthmore defenders to tie the game at one and give the team some much-needed confidence.
“I think that goal was what lifted our spirits; we picked our heads up, we saw the field, and we thought, ‘we can do this,'” Olivia said. “When we were down a goal, we hung our heads. But once we were level, we had all the confidence in the world. We came together as a team and finished strong. Then, when we were down again, we just needed that extra goal. We got that boost of energy, and played together as a team.”
While never content with a tie, Coach Leacott feels that the way they achieved this tie is good for the momentum going forward.
“Those types of ties, when you score with only 40 seconds left,” Leacott said. “I’ll take that because if you don’t score, you know it’s a loss.”
The team has another home game coming up against Penn State-Berks on Friday, Sept. 15 before getting into the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) portion of their season, with Kean rolling into town on Saturday, Sept. 23.
After winning the NJAC last year, Coach Leacott is looking forward to the first conference game of the season and believes that all eyes are on Rowan this year.
“I think we’ve got a little bit of a target on our back this year,” Leacott said.
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