Women's Soccer
October 21, 2006
LE MOYNE WOMEN'S SOCCER EARNS FIRST POSTSEASON BERTH SINCE 2000 WITH 1-1 TIE AGAINST SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Senior Lauren Chiacchia (Rensselaer, N.Y./Columbia) scored in the 15th minute as Le Moyne played Southern New Hampshire to a 1-1 tie in a Northeast-10 Conference women's soccer match at Henninger High School. With the draw, the Dolphins (8-7-1, 6-7-1 NE-10) earn their first Northeast-10 Conference tournament berth since 2000. Eighth-seeded Le Moyne will play at the top seed in Tuesday's conference quarterfinals.
"We've reached a goal we set for ourselves at the start of the year and I couldn't be happier," first-year head coach Jimmy Riverso said after the tie. "We felt we could put pressure on them early and it built to a goal. Southern N.H. came out strong in the second half, but our defense played fantastic."
Le Moyne entered the match needing a tie or win to secure a conference tournament berth. Southern N.H. would have captured a spot in the eight-team field with a win in Saturday's contest.
Le Moyne took a 1-0 lead early in the opening half. Chiacchia collected a crossing pass from freshman Megan O'Shea (East Syracuse, N.Y./East Syracuse-Minoa), shielded the SNHU defender and deposited a shot into the net for her second goal of the season. Chiacchia's goal was one of just two Le Moyne shots in the opening half.
The Penmen netted the equalizer with the only goal of the second half. In the 62nd minute, Laurie Boland knocked home a crossing pass from Lori Robinson to knot the score at one.
The Penmen outshot their hosts 21-6 for the game, including 14-4 after intermission and 4-0 in overtime, but could not muster the go-ahead score. Sophomore Amanda Abbatiello (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) made six saves for Le Moyne, while Stef Young stopped one shot in SNHU's seventh tie of the season.
Le Moyne will travel to Saint Rose (Albany, N.Y.) or Franklin
Pierce (Rindge, N.H.) on Tuesday for the conference quarterfinals.
Saint Rose entered Saturday's action one point ahead of Franklin
Pierce for the top seed in the Northeast-10 Conference
Championship.
(photo above by Hal Henty)
GAME BOX
SCORE
Le Moyne 1, Southern N.H. 1 (2 OT)
Southern
N.H.
0
1
0
0 -
1
Le Moyne
1
0
0
0
- 1
Southern N.H. (6-4-7, 4-4-6 Northeast-10) - Laurie Boland 1-0,
Lori Robinson 0-1. Saves - Stef Young 1.
Le Moyne (8-7-1, 6-7-1 Northeast-10) - Lauren Chiacchia 1-0, Megan
O'Shea 0-1. Saves - Amanda Abbatiello 6.
Shots - Southern N.H. 21, Le Moyne 6
Corner Kicks - Le Moyne 8, Southern N.H. 7
Fouls - Southern N.H. 20, Le Moyne 12
GAME BOX SCORE
