In the club’s marquee event, the Eagles got a marquee win and moved once again to the top of the WPSL Valley standings.
Dani Gunderson’s two goals propelled Columbus to a 4-2 thumping of Cincinnati Sirens FC and a club-record third win of the season. The Eagles (3-2-0; 9 points) sat atop the Valley at that point in the season (with three matches to play).
Cincinnati went ahead in the 20th minute, but Columbus roared back immediately. Corie Moore got the equalizer less than two minutes later, and Dani Gunderson scored the goal of the season just minutes after that to give the Eagles the lead for good. Erin Brockway’s goal early in the second half – her second of the season – proved to be the winner:
And then Gunderson would add another from long range to make the score 4-1 and put it out of reach.
Shannon Flower started in goal and got the win, Kelly DeNiro and Lisa Nouanesengsy dominated the Cincinnati midfield, and Corie Moore, Monique Hanayik, Deidre Abouahmed, and Amber Kern proved a tough defense to crack.
The Eagles would finish the season with a key draw at Cincinnati a few weeks later, which would cement the club’s best-ever WPSL finish (third), behind FC Pride and Fire & Ice SC, which won the WPSL National Championship just weeks later.