Sept. 24, 2008

Box Score

Boston, Mass. - Emmanuel's Amber Di Nucci (Assonet, MA) diced through three Simmons defenders and drilled the game-winning goal in overtime to lead the Saints to a 2-1 victory over Simmons College on Wednesday night. With both teams playing on their home field at the Winsor School and in front of a crowd of over 100 people, the Saints came away with the overtime win, extending their GNAC regular season unbeaten streak to 14 games.

With this win, Emmanuel improved to 4-3 on the season and 2-0 in conference play, while Simmons fell to 2-6-1 overall and 1-2 in the GNAC. The Emmanuel-Simmons rivalry dates back to the mid 90's, when Emmanuel first began its women's soccer program. The Sharks have won seven of the nine meetings between these two programs, but Emmanuel has been victorious the past two seasons.

Simmons came out of the box strong and kicked off the scoring just eight minutes into the game. Sophomore forward Anna Stella (Sharon, MA) bounced one over the head of Emmanuel keeper Laureyn Furtney (Barrington, NH) to put Simmons on the board. Rookie Mandy Walke (Danvers, MA) was credited with the assist on Stella's goal.

The Saints had nine scoring opportunities in the first half, but could not capitalize. The Sharks took a 1-0 advantage into halftime. Both teams continued to mix it up in the second half, with Simmons out-shooting Emmanuel 10-8. The Saints first found the scoreboard thirty minutes into the half, when junior mid-fielder Kate McKenna (Holyoke, MA) tied it up at 1-1. McKenna slid the ball into the top right corner with an assist from Di Nucci at 73:44.

Both teams had several more opportunities before regulation expired, but could not break the tie. The game went into extended play with the score knotted at one goal apiece.

Di Nucci's heroics came just 1 minute and 52 seconds into overtime. The sophomore forward shook several Shark defenders, before scorching a rocket over the head of Simmons keeper, Rachel Elliott (Amherst, NH) ending the regular season rivalry for 2008.

Furtney picked up her fourth win of the season, making 8 saves in net for Emmanuel. Elliott made 10 stops for the Sharks.

Both teams will return to action on Saturday with conference matches. Emmanuel will host the Blue Jays of Saint Joseph College in a 1pm start. Simmons will travel to Standish, Maine to take on the Monks of Saint Joseph's College at 1pm.