Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Sophomore Emily Dawidczyk's (Oxford, Mass.) goal in the 76th minute brought the Sacred Heart women's soccer team level with the Saint Francis U Red Flash Sunday at Campus Field, as the two sides played to a 2-2 double overtime tie.
Sacred Heart (6-6-2, 1-1-1 NEC) outshot Saint Francis U 12-3 in the opening half. It was the Red Flash, however, that had the first shot on goal as Gabi Morales let loose an attempt from 20 yards right at Pioneers goalkeeper Talia Schwartz (Roslyn, N.Y.) in the third minute. That would be Saint Francis U's only shot on goal in the half as Sacred Heart established itself in the Red Flash end for a majority of the half. The Pioneers had six straight shots in a span of nine minutes in the first half, with Red Flash goalkeeper Lexie Mirenda having to make two saves to keep the game scoreless. Mirenda had four saves in the first half as the game reached the interval scoreless.
Saint Francis U (2-10-3, 2-1-1 NEC) broke the stalemate in the 58th minute. Eloa Nascimento played a throughball to Gabi Morales up the left side. Morales then shot the ball to the far post past Schwartz and into the back of the net to give the Red Flash a 1-0 lead. One minute later, the Pioneers responded as Marissa Christy (Massapequa, N.Y.) fired a shot from 20 yards away right over Mirenda and in the goal to make the score 1-1. Dawidczyk nearly put the Pioneers in front 20 seconds later, but Mirenda made a save to keep the game tied.
The Red Flash regained the lead in the 65th minute. Siobhan Bross played a ball to Allison LaDuke, who got behind the Sacred Heart defense and beat Schwartz one-on-one to give Saint Francis U a 2-1 lead. Sacred Heart kept knocking on the door to tie, and finally equalized in the 76th minute. Dawidczyk took a Dana Cosmedy (Monroe, Conn.) feed and shot the ball right at Mirenda, who bobbled the ball on her line enough to nudge it right over the goalline to make the score 2-2. In the 79th minute, Kristin Verrette (Saugus, Mass.) almost put Sacred Heart in the lead when her shot from the top of the 18-yard box went just over the crossbar. With 50 seconds remaining in regulation, Christy let loose a header off of a corner that was kept out of the goal by the Red Flash defense leading to overtime.
The Pioneers outshot Saint Francis U 6-1 in the first overtime, but didn't put a shot on goal. The Red Flash's shot did go on goal as Schwartz made a save on an attempt by Nascimento two minute in. Each team had one shot in the second overtime, neither of which were on goal as the two teams played to a 2-2 draw.
Sacred Heart outshot Saint Francis U 33-11, but had only 10 shots on goal. Schwartz made four saves as Mirenda needed to stop seven shots for the Red Flash.
The Pioneers are on the road for their next three NEC games, beginning on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at Central Connecticut.
