On Tuesday September 7, 2021, the Waynesburg University women’s soccer team beat La Roche College 5-0. Not only was this a successful win for the women, but it gave their new head coach George Deaugustino his first win coaching as a Yellow Jacket.

Waynesburg started off strong. Less than nine minutes into the competition, the Yellow Jackets had already scored two goals. The first by freshman forward Brooklyn Loveland, followed by a goal from freshman defender Ally Hall. 

The Yellow Jackets kept their foot on the gas, increasing their lead to 3-0 by the end of the first half, due to a goal from senior defender Megan Briski. Deaugustino was pleased with the first half performance but wanted to make sure his team played with the same intensity in the second half as they did in the first. 

“I told them we still had things we had to work on. The score was a great result of the first half, but we had to play a complete 90 minutes,” said Deaugstino. “We did a really good job playing the first 45 minutes, but we had to string it together and play another 45 minutes after that.”

Coming out of halftime, the game was a back and forth closely fought battle. With about a quarter of the game remaining, Waynesburg made some key adjustments to the La Roche defense and scored two more goals by freshman forward Haley Johnson, and junior forward Emily Redman. Redman also contributed with an assist earlier in the game.

With the first victory of the season under their belts, Waynbesburgs’ record increases to 1-1 overall as they prepare to face Mount Aloysius on the road this Saturday September 11. 

“I think this game was a great win early in the season to give us some confidence and drive to continue to grow and improve,” said Redman. “Since we were able to prove to ourselves how we can create our own and also capitalize on opportunities while protecting our own goal, I think it will really motivate us to keep improving for the season ahead.”

This first win of the season left Deaugustino proud, but still pushing to prepare for the remainder of the season lying ahead. 

“I am super proud of this group and how we have been able to adapt to some of the changes that have come, along with some of the adversity we have faced,” said Deaugustino. “I was really proud of how they just went out there looking for the solution to the problem that was presented to us. We were able to solve that problem, and we were able to score two goals later in the game because we were able to find a solution as a group.”