NAZARETH 1, STEVENS 0
Junior Briana Vibbard scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season just 1:28 into the game Saturday and that tally held up the rest of the way as visiting Nazareth gained a key Empire 8 women's soccer victory, 1-0, over Stevens.
Saturday's hard-fought win marked the 18th time in the last 20 seasons that the Golden Flyers have amassed double digit wins in women's soccer. In winning, Nazareth overcame a 13-5 disadvantage in shots. The one that mattered most came off the foot of Vibbard in the second minute of play. A cross by Danielle Wilkin landed on the foot of Michaela Soules, who one-touched a pass to Vibbard, who finished the play by hitting a shot past Stevens keeper Lindsey Mahnken. Soules' assist was her team-leading eighth of the season. She also has four goals for a team-best 16 points.
Stevens had at least three good chances to tie the score. Separate first-half shots by Raba Nassif deflected off the cross bar and goal post respectively. The first attempt came in the 29th minute, the second in the 34th minute. In the second half, Stevens' Ann Heine had a chance, but her shot was saved by Nazareth keeper Allison Dobles and then deflected off the cross bar.
Dobles played the first 27 minutes of the first half, but was shaken up and replaced by Mackenzie Dunphy, who played the final 17:51 of the half. Dobles returned to the game to start the second half and played the rest of the way. The duo combined for five saves in the team's sixth shutout of the season. Mahnken made two saves for the Ducks.
UTICA 4, ALFRED 1
Senior forward Maddisen Melley netted two goals to lead the Utica College women's soccer team to a 4-1 victory over visiting Alfred University in Empire 8 Conference action on the turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium Saturday. Melley now leads UC with six goals on the season, including a team-best four game-winning goals.
The Pioneers snapped a seven game slide and improved their record to 5-8-1 overall on the season and 1-5 in conference play. Utica also picked up its first win of the season at home in front of a welcoming Homecoming crowd at Gaetano. Alfred's record moved to 3-10-2 overall and the Saxons remain winless in conference play at 0-6.
Utica's Alana Fitzpatrick got the Pioneers on the board in the 13
th minute when she netter her fifth goal of the season off a rebound to give UC a 1-0 lead at 12:57. Melley then netted her first of the night just under 11 minutes later, her fifth of the season, off her own rebound to give UC a commanding 2-0 lead in the 24
th minute. The score would stand through 45 minutes and the Pioneers took a two goal lead into the half.
Alfred cut the Pioneer lead in half in the 64
th minute when Nicole Lobur netted her second of the season, off a corner kick from Lauren Wyant, to make the score 2-1 at 63:54.
5:10 later, Melley added her second of the night, assisted by Jenna Hughes, to give the Pioneers a two goal cushion in the 70
th minute of action. 6:53 later, Hughes put the contest away with her first goal of the season, assisted by Maddison Vitale to cap the scoring on the afternoon for the Pioneers.
Utica is now 12-1 against Alfred dating back to 2002.
UC goalies Keri Berkowitz and Kelly Heimerle split time in net for the Pioneers. Heimerle made three saves and allowed the lone Saxon goal, while Berkowitz stopped one shot and picked up the victory.
Utica outshot Alfred 20-5 on the afternoon and the Pioneers also earned a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.
ITHACA 2, ST. JOHN FISHER 0
The Ithaca College women's soccer team defeated St. John Fisher Saturday afternoon, dropping the Cardinals by a score of 2-0 at Growney Stadium. The shutout victory improves Ithaca's overall record to 11-2-0, including a mark of 6-1 in Empire 8 play.
Sophomore Megan Nash scored both goals for the Bombers, marking her first career multi-goal game. Goalkeeper Beth Coppolecchia stopped all four shots she faced for her eighth shutout of the season. Ithaca outshot the Cardinals, 15-7. The Bombers also earned more corner kicks in the victory, recording five to St. John Fisher's one.
After a scoreless opening half, the Bombers broke the scoring drought just 10 minutes into the second frame. Nash netted her first of the contest in the 56th minute, giving Ithaca the 1-0 advantage. Nash added to the lead with her second of the day and third of the season at 71:39.
The Bomber defense held strong for the remaining 20 minutes of play, giving Ithaca the 2-0 road conference win.
ELMIRA 1, HOUGHTON 1 (2OT)
110 minutes was not enough time to determine a winner this afternoon, as Elmira College and Houghton College played to a 1-1 double overtime tie.
There was quite a bit of back-and-forth play to start the game with just a handful of shots taken by both teams. But as the teams began to settle in, the scoring chances increased with the Purple and Gold getting on the board first. After earning a corner kick in the 23rd minute, Mackenzie Donohue'15 sent a high-flying ball towards the middle of the six-yard box. Fellow senior, Melanie Englsih'15 positioned herself in front of her mark and snapped a header into the far side of the net, putting EC ahead 1-0.
English nearly made it two goals 15 minutes later as she once again headed a corner on target. Her header got past the keeper, but a Houghton defender covered the gap near the post and deflected the ball out of danger, keeping it a 1-0 game. Despite another two quality corner kick opportunities for EC, the score remained 1-0 heading into halftime.
Houghton came out with a much more offensive mindset in the second half which resulted in 12 second-half shots, nine coming from the foot of the Empire 8's leading scorer, Stephany Ellison. The Highlanders would tie the game in the 58th minute as Ellison beat EC goaltender, Amanda Banner'17 with a shot at the far post.
EC proved to be resilient though as the Soaring Eagles produced a number of quality looks at goal with time winding down in regulation. Mollie Hamilton'15 had a shot saved by Shawna Sprout in the 68th minute, as did Sara Kazerouni'18 six minutes later. Kazerouni nearly put the Purple and Gold ahead on a second occasion with less than 15 minutes to play, but her header, which came off yet another corner kick, sailed just high of the cross bar. Neither team would produce a shot on goal over the final 15 minutes of play, forcing overtime.
Both teams had chances in the first overtime period to win the game, but neither Houghton nor Elmira found the back of the net, leading to the second, and final, overtime period. Banner made a save just 37 seconds after the start of the second overtime, but that would be Houghton's only shot in the final 10 minutes as EC continued to press for the game-winner. Allie Olsen'16 and Hamilton both had shots go wide of the target, then with 13 seconds to play, Donohue took one last shot from 35 yards out, but Sprout made the save and let time expire.
|
SCHOOL |
CONF |
OVERALL |
|
Ithaca |
6-1 |
11-2 |
|
Nazareth |
5-1 |
10-3-1 |
|
Stevens |
4-2 |
9-5 |
|
Hartwick |
3-2-1 |
7-5-1 |
|
St. John Fisher |
3-2 |
5-9 |
|
Houghton |
2-4-1 |
6-6-1 |
|
Elmira |
1-2-2 |
5-5-3 |
|
Utica |
1-5 |
5-8-1 |
|
Alfred |
0-6 |
3-10-2 |