Oct. 1, 2009

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - The Emerson College Women's Soccer Team rallied from a 2-goal deficit to defeat Emmanuel, 3-2, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference rivalry played at Roberto Clemente Field on Thursday night. Emerson's junior midfielder Lindsay D'Andrea (Medford, N.J.) had her hand in all three of the Lions' goals, scoring two and assisting on the third. With the win, Emerson remains undefeated in GNAC play at 6-0-1 and improves to 7-2-1 overall. The loss drops the Saints to 6-5-1 on the season and 4-2-1 in the league.

Emmanuel came out strong, scoring in the opening moments of play. Freshman Meghan Zerba (Cumberland, R.I.) drilled one in the Emerson net at 3:24 to give Emmanuel an early 1-0 advantage. The Saints tacked on another one before the end of the half, when senior defender Meghan Long (Smithfield, R.I.) sent a free kick past Emerson senior keeper Shayna Reich (West Hills, Calif.) to put Emmanuel up, 2-0. These were the second goals of the season for both Zerba and Long. Despite being out-shot, 5-4, in the opening period, the Saints took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Emerson capitalized on its transition game. The Lions got numerous scoring opportunities from breakaways. D'Andrea notched her first of a pair of goals on the night just five minutes into the second period. She then helped tie the contest in the 62nd minute, when she sent a beautiful pass to the right side, finding Katie Franzeo (Henderson, Nev.) wide open. Franzeo's shot sailed past Emmanuel's freshman keeper Jessica D'Ottavio (Pawling, N.Y.), knotting the contest at 2-2.

D'Ottavio made several incredible saves for the Saints, as Emmanuel was out-shot, 9-7, in the second half. The game-winner for Emerson came in the 73rd minute, when D'Andrea headed in a pass from classmate Lisa Viccione (Meridian, Conn.), giving the Lions a 3-2 edge. The two goals tonight for D'Andrea bring her total to 10 this season.

Emerson owned a 14-11 shooting edge on the night. Emmanuel racked up 5 corner kick opportunities to just 1 by the Lions. Reich picked up the win for the Lions, playing the full 90 minutes in net and making 6 saves in the effort. D'Ottavio went the distance for Emmanuel and tallied 5 saves, all of them coming in the second half.

The Saints will take this weekend off, returning to action next Wednesday night at Rivier College. Emerson will play at home this Sunday (10/4) against the pre-season favorite Monks of Saint Joseph's College in a noon start.