Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Sept. 11, 2015) - The Molloy College women's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season on Friday, falling to Stonehill by a final score of 3-0 at the Dean G. Skelos Sports Complex.
Both Molloy (1-1-2) and Stonehill (1-1-1) had corner kicks within the first five minutes of the contest, and the Lions got the first shot of the contest in the sixth minute as
Danielle Valente (South Setauket, N.Y.) flicked a header wide of the Skyhawks' net. The maroon and white had another opportunity in the 16th minute as senior attacking midfielder
Shannon Murphy (North Babylon, N.Y.) had a shot from point blank range, but she could only muster the ball right into the waiting arms of Stonehill junior goalie Jamie Block (Georgetown, Mass.). The visiting side had a quick counterattack, as sophomore middie Taylor Shannahan (Mendham, N.J.) snuck in behind the defense. Despite the insistence of the Molloy defense that Shannahan was offsides, no call was made and the sophomore dribbled around junior goalkeeper
Gabrielle Batista (Hicksville, N.Y.). However, poetic justice would favor the Lions in this instance, as Shannahan pushed a shot that glanced off the woodwork. It would not take long, though, for Stonehill to strike.
In the 23rd minute of the contest, Shannahan played a ball off a cross from freshman Emily Scollard (Lynnfield, Mass.) that had been deflected by Molloy freshman midfielder
Amanda Milazzo (Setauket, N.Y.). Shannahan settled the ball at her feet and then tucked her shot past the stretch of Batista and into the right side netting. It was Shannahan's first goal of the season and the first marker for the Skyhawks, who had failed to score in their previous contests with St. Michael's and Saint Anselm last weekend. Stonehill almost doubled their lead not five minutes later, as senior forward Meagan Elliott (Norton, Mass.) rifled in a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that clanged off the same post that had stunted Shannahan earlier in the contest.
Molloy had their chances in the contest as freshman defender
Allie Rainey (Smithtown, N.Y.) nearly equalized the affair in the 31st minute. However, her shot curled the wrong way and went wide of the near-side crossbar. Then at the start of the second half, junior midfielder
Jessica Malone (Long Beach, N.Y.) bent in a corner kick that found the head of junior defender
Courtney Noakes (Levittown, N.Y.). However, the attempt landed in the arms of Block, a theme which would continue throughout the remainder of the contest.
After dominating most of the possession in the second half, Stonehill found their equalizer in the 86th minute. Sophomore forward Meredith Moore (Salem, Conn.) kept an errant pass from going out of bounds and found teammate Madalyn Fernbach (Plainview, N.Y.) inside the six-yard box. The freshman thundered her shot past Batista into the top center of the net to give her team a 2-0 lead. Fernbach would chip home her second goal of the game over the head of Molloy's junior goalkeeper, who had come off her line in an attempt to play a ball from junior middie Andrea Mancuso (Highland Mills, N.Y.), two minutes later.
The Skyhawks collected nine shots in each half to outshoot Molloy by an 18-6 margin. Stonehill also had seven shots on goal to Molloy's three, and a 6-5 edge in corner kicks. Shannahan led all players with three shots, while Fernbach converted both of her shots on goal into tallies. Block made three saves in net to earn the clean sheet, while Batista stopped four shots in the losing effort.
The Molloy College women's soccer team now has a week to prepare for their conference opener, as the Lions will travel to Flushing to face Queens (N.Y.) on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 12 p.m.
