Box Score AMHERST, N.Y. (Oct. 11, 2015) - A 96th-minute goal from senior defender Meghan Lipinoga (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) left the Molloy College women's soccer team heartbroken as Daemen claimed a critical conference victory, 1-0, at Dimp Wagner Stadium on Sunday. The Wildcats' record now stands at 4-8-1 and 2-3 in ECC play while Molloy falls to 4-5-2 with a 1-3 conference mark.
The Lions had control of the first half from the early going, as the first shot of the match sailed high off the foot of senior midfielder
Christina Restivo (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) in the fourth minute of action. Following a brief lull in shooting on either side, junior forward
Danielle Valente (South Setauket, N.Y.) pushed an effort wide at the 17:39 mark of the opening frame. The Lions would notch their first shot on target in the match just over six minutes later, as senior forward
Alicia Mercurio (Williston Park, N.Y.) had her shot saved by Daemen keeper Meaghan O'Leary (Grand Island, N.Y.). The hosts finally had a shot in the contest at the 32:34 mark of the first half but the attempt from red-shirt freshman Sarah Britton (Syracuse, N.Y.) was corraled by Molloy's
Gabrielle Batista (Hicksville, N.Y.). Fellow junior
Courtney Noakes (Levittown, N.Y.) had two shots in the next three minutes of action, but one shot went high and the other was stopped by O'Leary. Batista had to stop one more attempt in the first half, as she kept sophomore forward Stephanie Zurales (Woodridge, Ill.) from scoring with about three minutes to play in the first half.
Molloy outshot its opponents by a 6-2 margin in the first half, and continued to dominate possession and the shot statistic throughout the next 45 minutes of play. The Lions collected ten shots in the second half, including three by freshman midfielder
Amanda Milazzo (Setauket, N.Y.), and two by Noakes, junior
Jessica Malone (Long Beach, N.Y.) and senior
Shannon Murphy (North Babylon, N.Y.), respectively. Yet none of the attempts could either be placed on target or get past the reach of O'Leary. Daemen, on the other hand, had just one shot attempt in the final frame of regulation as sophomore forward Alex Juliano (Hamburg, N.Y.) headed a ball wide in the 52nd minute of play.
With 90 minutes not enough time to settle the score in this contest, the two teams went to a ten-minute period under sudden-victory guidelines. Malone had the first shot of the overtime frame in the 94th minute, but she pushed her effort wide. After a foul was called on the Lions, Daemen had a free kick in a dangerous position. Off of the set piece, junior midfielder Alexis Koral (Williamsville, N.Y.) played a ball to the top right side of the 18-yard box and Lipinoga got her head to the ball just enough to push it past Batista and solidify the golden-goal win for the Wildcats.
Molloy took 17 shots in the contest and had seven attempts on target saved away by O'Leary. The Lions dominated every facet of the game, taking a total of seven corner kicks over the 96 minutes of play, but the Wildcats needed just one break and got it late to secure the win.
The Molloy College women's soccer team will head home for a three-game conference homestand beginning on Wednesday (Oct. 14) when the latest chapter of the "Lions vs. Golden Lions" rivalry commences at Darcy Field. Kick-off between Molloy and Dowling College is set for 6 p.m.
