BRYANT WOMEN’S SOCCER BATTLES BACK TO TIE HOLY CROSS, 2-2

Sept. 15, 2010

BRYANT WOMEN'S SOCCER BATTLES BACK TO TIE HOLY CROSS, 2-2

VIDEO: GOLDBERG GOAL

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – In dramatic fashion tailor-made for the only home night game of the season, the Bryant University women's soccer team shined under the lights of the Bryant Turf Complex as the Bulldogs stormed back from a two-goal deficit to tie Holy Cross, 2-2 on Wednesday.

Freshman Ari Goldberg (East Bridgewater, Mass.) completed the comeback with a game-tying goal off a free kick in the final two minutes of regulation following a tally by sophomore forward Krista Johnstone (Dover, N.H.) earlier in the half. The Bulldogs stand at 2-4-1 on the season following the double overtime thriller.

The Crusaders (2-3-1) wasted no time in establishing an early lead as they pushed through the Bulldog defense to score in the opening minute of the contest. Senior forward Shelby Stand came out on top of a one-on-one battle deep in Bryant territory to sneak a shot underneath Bulldog keeper Kelsi Jacob (Mahwah, N.J.).

In almost a perfect replication to the start of the game, the Crusaders opened the second half with a goal in the 48^th minute. On a breakaway down the middle of the field setup by a pass from Stand, freshman Sarah Kelley chipped a floater over a charging Jacob to give Holy Cross the 2-0 advantage.

For most of the second half, the Bulldogs continued to breakthrough the Crusader backline but could not get off a quality shot.

The prime scoring opportunity finally came for Bryant in the 79^th minute when Johnstone settled a bouncing pass from Regan Marin (Bedford, N.Y.) while directly in front of the Crusader net and buried it past the dive of keeper Mary Ferketic.

The pace of the game quickly picked up during the waning minutes of regulation as both teams changed to a offensive style of play but the keepers of each team stopped any chance of an easy goal. In the game, Jacob recorded a remarkable six stops for the Bulldogs while Ferketic was equally impressive with five saves.

Following a foul to setup possibly the last good chance to even the score, Goldberg curved a free kick past the reach of Ferketic and into the top right corner of the net in the 89^th minute to send the teams into extra time.

The first overtime period would be Jacob's time to shine as the keeper was rewarded on a gamble in the 97^th minute by coming out of the net to deflect a breakaway shot by Stand and preserve the score. Both teams reverted back to a defensive tactic during the second overtime as the only shot of the period came from Bryant sophomore Kaitlyn Fare (Milstone Township, N.J.) which was blocked by a defender.

Bryant edged out the Crusaders in both shots and corner kicks by margins of 16-13 and 2-1, respectively. Stand led all players with seven shots while Elizabeth Guimond (Claremont, N.H.) paced the Bulldogs with four.

The Bulldogs return to action on Sunday, Sept. 19 when they visit New Hampshire at 1:00 p.m.