Edgar Ayala – Sports Writer
It was the home opener for Southern Connecticut’s women’s soccer team, as they fell short 1-0 in overtime to Southern New Hampshire University, Saturday night at Jess Dow Field.
A goal by Alexa Poulin in the 107th minute in the second half of extra time gave SNH their fourth win of the season, improving the Penman to 4-1 while the Owls fall to 1-4 on the season.
Prior to the goal, goalkeeper Erica Ridella threw the ball to one of her defenders, but the pass was picked off by Poulin causing her to smash a 20-yard goal into the top left corner of the net, recording her first goal of the season.
Despite the loss, assistant coach Chris LeGates, said the team played well and created several opportunities to score in both regular time and overtime, but was unlucky to lose the game they way it ended.
“At the end of day, it just wasn’t enough,” LeGates said. “They took advantage of a big situation and they finished the game that way. But by no means does this loss demoralize us. We took a lot more positives from this game than we did negatives. We’ll come back, regroup and get ourselves ready for Pace [University] Tuesday night.”
LeGates said that the game plan coming into today’s game was to compact the field in order to limit the amount of space Southern New Hampshire had, adding that they did just that, but was unfortunate to lose the game.
“For us it was to really take advantage of our athleticism, take advantage of the space they gave us and push players into the attack when necessary,” LeGates said. “It was pretty successful, we obviously didn’t score a goal but we outshot them 15-12, so we generated opportunities.”
And there was no denying that Southern created chances, as the second half looked to favor the Owls more than the first.
But as the team walked off the field and headed for their 15-minute break at the half, head coach Adam Cohen, talked to his team about how they can break the 0-0 tie.
Dolci Wagner, a junior, said the team has been good at taking the advice Cohen gives them at the half and applying it on the field. She also added that the loss will only help them team learn from their mistakes.
“It’s losses like these that make you work even harder for the next game,” Wagner said. “So when we come out next game, we have a little bit more fire under us to win.”
At the start of the second half, the Owls seemed to find more rhythm, as they generated more opportunities than the Penman.
Yet, there was one particular chance late in second half that the Owls could of broke the tie and avoid overtime.
In the 88th minute, senior midfielder Betti Worth headed the ball off a cross just wide off the net, which then forced the Owls into overtime, losing the game 17 minutes later.
In spite of the loss, sophomore midfielder Victoria Conde said the team was just happy to be back after playing four games on the road.
“Its great to be back, this is our only home game this month, but it was nice to finally be back home and have the fans support the team,” Conde said.
LeGates said, it took a moment of quality from Poulin to give SNH the win.
“We had our opportunities,” he said. “But unfortunately we just couldn’t capitalize on ours,” he said.
Photo Credit: Edgar Ayala – Sports Writer
