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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Juliana Kontul
Melissa Wenzler
Kontul starred with 2 exceptional goals in the winning effort. 
4
Winner John Carroll JCU (1-1-0)
1
Earlham EARLHAM (1-1-0)
Winner
John Carroll JCU
(1-1-0)
4
Final
1
Earlham EARLHAM
(1-1-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JCU 3 1 4
Earlham EARLHAM 1 0 1

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | Joe Ginley '16, SID

Kontul and Dufalla Power Offensive Explosion in Win for Women's Soccer

RICHMOND, Ind. -- If you're a John Carroll University Women's Soccer fan, it doesn't get much more exciting offensively than what you saw on Saturday in Indiana.

After allowing an early goal, the Blue Streaks exploded offensively. The outburst featured two goals by household name Brittany Dufalla, but also two goals by an unheralded midfielder -- Juliana Kontul. 

The thrilling offensive output led to a 4-1 conquest of Earlham College on the road for the Blue Streaks, despite rainy conditions on a grass field. 

"It was good to see the girls come out today and play so well," said Head Coach Michael Marich. "Offensively, we hadn't been able to put much on the board offensively, and then we gave up a goal on a rebound. So it was great to see the response from the team, to see them not put their heads down, to get one goal, then another, and keep the game going with a couple more." 

Just 2:58 into the contest, the Quakers struck first. As JCU adjusted to the grass field, Earlham fired a long shot into the box. Danielle DelGiudice made the initial save, but a Eva Lyon stood in the perfect spot to fire home the rebound. So, Earlham took a 1-0 lead off a great bounce.

Just over three minutes later, the Blue Streaks authored a huge response. 

On a corner kick, Macey Malinky fired a perfect ball into the box. Brittany Dufalla met the beautiful ball with her head and evened things up in the seventh minute. 

Dufalla has been the linchpin of JCU's offense during the past calendar year, so her goal did not surprise anyone. On the other hand, Juliana Kontul had not yet recorded a point before today's match. Kontul previously attended The Ohio State University as a student, not playing for the Buckeyes, before transferring to JCU. She appeared in 2 games last season and earned her way into the starting lineup this season, earning her first start in the season opener. 

So when Kontul snuck a goal under the keeper's right side, it provided electricity on a rainy Indiana afternoon. 

Kontul's first career goal came off a wonderful cross from Dufalla, a marvelous play. Kontul's excellent effort granted JCU a 2-1 lead in the 24th minute, and John Carroll would never trail again. 

"She came off the bench and did great," said Marich. "Her first touch was a goal, you can't have a better start than that. Last year, she got hurt, so we're excited to have her back healthy. We'll be looking to have her help Brittany on offense." 

Kontul only needed nine minutes to score her second career goal. Grace Monnin tapped a pass into the box, which didn't look like it would find open space. But the ball skipped on the grass, and Kontul took advantage. The Solon native slid into the ball, leading with her right foot, and careened the ball into the lower left corner of the net for the goal.

Kontul's heroics placed John Carroll fully into the driver's seat, ahead 3-1 in the 33rd minute.

John Carroll's 3-1 lead stood heading into the break. But the Blue Streaks were not content. 

In the 55th minute, Claire Hollern booted the ball from midfield towards the box. The ball bounded ahead and Dufalla chased it down, tapping it past the goalie for another excellent goal. 

The outstanding offensive play set John Carroll ahead 4-1, an insurmountable lead the way the visitors played.

The Blue Streaks ended the day on top in not only the score, but in shots (19-8), shots on goal (9-3), and corners (9-1). 

In short, it was a near-perfect effort for the Blue Streaks.

"It's great to get the first win of the season," said Marich. "This is definitely the way we wanted to start the road trip this way. You never know how you'll respond to an early goal, especially with the weather and the grass field, that put the pressure on. We learned that hopefully this is a team that'll work no matter the conditions. It was great to get players involved besides the starters and typical subs. It's good to see how they'd compete against a team that made us work for everything we got. Hopefully we'll continue to work and improve." 

John Carroll will have no time to dwell on its laurels, as the Blue Streaks are back in action on Sunday at Franklin College in a 1 pm affair. 
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