Diffendal Scores First Career Goal in Blue Hens’ 1-0 Shutout of Liberty

Sunday, September 8

Newark, DE

12 p.m.

University of Delaware

4-2

Liberty University

1-4-1

Liberty

Delaware

Diffendal Scores First Career Goal in Blue Hens’ 1-0 Shutout of Liberty

9/8/2019 3:08:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – Blue Hen redshirt freshman Anna Diffendal scored her first career goal and Delaware posted its fourth shutout of the season as UD continued its strong start to the 2019 season with a 1-0 triumph over Liberty Sunday afternoon at Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium.

Delaware improved to 4-2 on the season, its best start since the 2010 squad won four of its first five matches. Liberty dropped to 1-4-1 on the campaign.

In the 34th minute Gabrielle Johnson served a pass into the box that was flicked toward the goal by Olivia Schuck. A Liberty defender got a foot on the ball but it went right to Diffendal, who served it into the upper right corner from 12 yards out for her first career goal.

wsocer19-stablein-liberty

The Delaware backline made the lead hold up, allowing just five shots the entire 90 minutes to post its fourth clean sheet of the season. Goalkeeper Kamryn Stablein made three saves in the second half, including a diving stop in the opening minutes and another save at the final buzzer.

The Blue Hens held an 11-5 advantage in shots and a slim 4-3 edge in corner kicks.

Head Coach Mike Barroqueiro
"For the first time this season I felt like this was a Sunday college game. It was slow, a battle, and oftentimes ugly. But I'm really proud because I think in the past these were the kind of games when things were not going our way, we found a way to not get the result. So I think it shows a growth both in mentality and quality, where it wasn't our best game but we found a way to win."

"The goal was a great service from Gabby and a great flick by Liv, and I'm just really proud to get Anna back on the scoresheet. She's a kid we missed all last year. She's a special player, so hopefully this builds confidence for her moving forward."

Anna Diffendal (on her goal)
"It was a great ball from Gabby and an awesome flick from Liv, so it was really a team goal. Since I've been out for a year, it's a good feeling to be back with everyone. We're taking it one game at a time, and we're really excited about how the season is going so far."