MANCHESTER, N.H.
- On a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Melucci
Field, the Saint Anselm Hawks took on the No. 19 University of
Bridgeport Purple Knights. In a piercing battle between the
two teams, neither team would claim victory, as the match ended in
a 1-1 tie after 110 minutes of play.
The Purple Knights did not waste any time as senior midfielder
Katie Stanley (Oxon, England) gained control of
the ball and took a quick breakaway shot just 15 seconds into the
game, but missed wide. At 3:02, Sofia Hoflin
(Ostersund, Sweden) put Bridgeport on the board, scoring a
goal off a penalty shot from the left side.
Just six minutes later, at 9:05, freshman Kelli Duggan
(Easton, Mass.), capitalized on a Bridgeport foul and
netted the ball from well outside the box, kicking it right over
the line of defenders to tie the game at one. The rookie
defender scored her first career goal in today's game, and played a
key role in many of the Hawks' scoring opportunities.
The Hawks' offense was led by junior Jennifer Pearl
(Stoughton, Mass.) who drove the ball downfield to give
Saint Anselm several key chances to go ahead late in the
game. Near the end of the first period, she took the ball
back into the corner and sent a nice crossing pass to
Teresa Vercollone (Pembroke, Mass.) in the center,
but the ball ricocheted out of bounds. The pair had another key
opportunity 15 minutes into the second period, dribbling past the
goalie, but the play was broken up by Sofia Hoflin's outstanding
defense. With exactly one minute left in regulation, Pearl drove
the ball downfield and had an open shot. Pearl then passed the ball
to Keara Dolan (Madison, Conn.) who took the shot,
but it was blocked by goalie Emelie Karstrom (Everod,
Sweden). With just one second remaining in regulation,
Pearl won the ball once again and took a great shot, but it was
saved by a diving stop by Karstrom.
The Purple Knights have incredible speed, but their plans to
score were foiled time and again by the Hawks' defense led by
Michelle Dickson (Manchester, N.H.) and
Jillian DaSilva (East Taunton, Mass.).
Heidi Reece (Salem, N.Y.) also single-handedly
stopped a strong charge by Hoflin early in the game. The defensive
player of the game was goalkeeper Jacqueline Cooney
(Braintree Mass.) who had 10 saves in the game, none of
which were handed to her. She played very aggressively,
coming out of the net to end plays before a charging Purple Knight
could get past her. Her most impressive play of the game, depicted
in the photo above, came on a corner kick, as she jumped a foot
higher than everyone around her to grab the ball out of the air
while surrounded by Bridgeport's offense. Bridgeport goalkeeper
Emelie Karstrom had nine saves in today's competition.
The University of Bridgeport is now 1-0-1 (0-0 ECC). They will
return to action on Friday, September 4th with a visit to
Philadelphia, Pa. to take on Philadelphia University at 4:30 pm.
The Saint Anselm Hawks (0-1-1, 0-0 NE-10) take their show on the
road as they play their first Northeast-10 game at Assumption
College on Wednesday, September 2nd at 7:00 pm.
