By Will Anderson / The Jambar
After a 5-11-2 season in 2024 and the recent hire of Head Coach Rich Wall, the Youngstown State University women’s soccer program began its 30th season.
The Penguins began the campaign with a road trip against three Power Four conference opponents. The program then returned home Aug. 24 for a match against St. Bonaventure University, where Youngstown State emerged victorious.
The Penguins and Bonnies combined for 40 shots in the matchup, but it was the ’Guins who were able to find the back of the net as they won 3-nil.
The first goal of the contest came in the 65th minute by redshirt sophomore Sara Felder off an overhead kick.
This was then followed up four minutes later when freshman Baylee Williams slotted one in from an assist by junior Camille Bultel. Williams then assisted fellow freshman Kamryn Rosa in the 76th minute for the final goal of the match.
The victory improved the Penguins to 1-3 overall, and gave Wall his first program win.
“The win feels good,” Wall said. “But most importantly for [the team], they’ve worked for this moment and hopefully we can build off of it and have more moments like this.”
The season started out with a 6-1 loss for Youngstown State against Indiana University Bloomington for its first match Aug. 14.
After entering halftime down 1-nil, the Hoosiers scored four more goals before the Penguins scored their only one of the match.
Youngstown State’s goal came from Williams off an assist by redshirt freshman Leah Weiland in the 80th minute to prevent the shutout.
The Hoosiers scored another goal in the 89th minute to wrap up the game and improve to 1-0 on the season.
The second game of the season for Youngstown State occurred Aug. 17, when they took on No. 25 Texas Tech University. The Red Raiders outshot the Penguins 38-2 in the matchup, and won 4-1.
The Red Raiders took a 2-nil lead by the 12th minute, scored another goal in the 23rd minute and a final in the 75th minute.
Meanwhile for the Penguins, their lone goal came in the 75th minute from Bultel, who was double assisted by senior Chloe Weiland and Rosa. With all of the shots, redshirt sophomore Maya Naimomli had a career-high 11 saves.
The Penguins wrapped up their first road trip Aug. 20 against the University of Missouri.
This time the Penguins could not avoid the shutout and lost 5-nil. The Tigers had two goals in the first half and then followed up with three more in a three-minute span.
Youngstown State only mustered two shots on goal in the match, one from Weiland and the other from Rosa. The match dropped the Penguins to 0-3 overall on the season, while the Tigers improved to 1-0-1.
The Penguins will start another road trip as they take on in-state opponent Kent State University tonight.
The Golden Flashes are coming off a tie against Northwestern University and are 1-1-1 heading into the matchup.
The game at Zoeller Field begins at 7 p.m. and can be watched on BoxCast.