By Will Anderson / The Jambar
With two regular season games left to play, the Youngstown State University women’s soccer team clinched a spot in the 2025 Horizon League Women’s Soccer Championship.
The Penguins continued a school-record, seven-game, unbeaten streak with two home wins against Oakland University on Oct. 16 and South Carolina State University on Oct. 19.
The ’Guins beat the Golden Grizzlies 3-nil, which gave redshirt sophomore Maya Naimoli her third straight shutout and fourth total for the year. Naimoli is now tied for second all-time in YSU program history with seven shutouts.
The scoring started in the 32nd minute for Youngstown State with a goal headed off the crossbar by freshman Kamryn Rosa, assisted by sophomore Sara Felder. The goal was Rosa’s sixth on the season.
A minute into the second half, junior Eva Sunjevaric scored her first goal of the season with a shot that rifled into the upper-left corner from a free kick right outside the 18-yard box.
The Penguins secured the game when Felder assisted senior Chloe Weiland for her first goal of the season in the 84th minute.
The loss dropped the Golden Grizzlies to 2-7-6 overall on the season and 1-2-4 in Horizon League play. The win improved the Penguins to 5-1-2 in conference play.
This marks the first time the ’Guins have had 5 or more conference wins since 2022. Head Coach Rich Wall said with the success and excitement, he has to remind the team to take it one game at a time.
“It’s both sides of the ball right now and it’s exciting,” Wall said. “The success is coming, and we just need to stay rooted in the moment, one game at a time.”
The ’Guins then beat the Lady Bulldogs 3-nil on Senior Day to finish nonconference play. The shutout was split between two goalkeepers, junior Aimee Benton and freshman Nikki Whyte.
Redshirt junior Marissa Masano and Weiland double assisted Felder for her sixth goal of the season. Less than a minute later, Weiland assisted fellow senior Sophia Blankenship for her first goal of both the season and her Penguin career.
Freshman Baylee Williams sealed the game with an unassisted goal in the 85th minute — her fourth of the season.
The win improved the Penguins to 7-8-2 overall on the season, while the Lady Bulldogs fell to 2-13.
The ’Guins have turned another corner offensively and now have nine players with a goal or more — led by the duo of Rosa and Felder, both with six. Wall said scoring is not just from the duo but a whole team effort.
“We have a plethora of attacking players that can get it done,” Wall said. “There is something with that partnership [of Felder and Rosa] that seems to click really well, and if it’s not one of them, it’s the other one.”
Youngstown State is back in action Oct. 25 at Northern Kentucky University to battle for the No. 2 seed in the tournament standings. The game is scheduled for noon and will be live on ESPN+.
The Penguins finish the season against Robert Morris University at 6 p.m. Oct. 29 at Farmers National Bank Field. The matchup will be livestreamed on ESPN+.