LANCASTER, Penn. (Aug. 31, 2018) – For the past two seasons, Elizabethtown College's Lydia Lawson has been a thorn in the side of the Rutgers University-Camden women's soccer team on opening day.
 
Lawson notched two goals against the Scarlet Raptors for the second season opener in a row and the Blue Jays went on to post a 4-2 victory over Rutgers-Camden in a non-conference game here Friday night. The game started nearly a half-hour late and was played at an off-campus site due to flooding in the area.
 
Lawson, who notched two goals when Elizabethtown won the 2017 season opener, 3-0, at Rutgers-Camden, got the 2018 scoring started at 12:01, assisted by Alli Lasky.
 
Rutgers-Camden notched the equalizer at 24:52 on the first collegiate goal by freshman Ava Pizzaro, assisted by sophomore Meghan Wachira. Shortly before the half, however, Lawson struck again with the goal that gave the Blue Jays a lead for good. She scored an unassisted tally at 34:35.
 
Elizabethtown outshot Rutgers-Camden, 7-5, in the opening 45 minutes and held a 5-4 edge in corner kicks.
 
The score remained tight most of the second half, but with 14:23 remaining, Lasky gave the Blue Jays an insurance tally, assisted by Shannon Conlon. Elizabethtown added another goal at 81:36 when Lawson assisted Janelle Barna.
 
The Raptors' final goal came on a penalty kick by Wachira with 5:40 remaining in regulation. Wachira, who led the team with 13 goals last season, now owns 14 in her brief 17-game collegiate career. She tied Lisa Boisvert (1999-2002) for 11th on the program's career goal-scoring chart. Her three points on the day, meanwhile, jumped her three places on the career list to 13th, with 31 points.
 
The Raptors' two goals were the most they scored on opening day since a 2-1 double-overtime win at FDU-Florham on Sept. 1, 2012. The tallies also broke a streak of three straight shutout defeats on opening day for Rutgers-Camden.
 
Sophomore goalie Natalie Eberhardt made four saves for the Raptors, while Christine Fox had five for Elizabethtown.
 
The Scarlet Raptors play their home opener Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Lancaster Bible College.