Late Thursday afternoon proved to be an exciting time for the Women’s Soccer team as the Chargers took on regional opponent, St. Thomas Aquinas, to mark their third game of the season.
At the onset, the two teams seemed to be evenly matched; however, as the game progressed, the Chargers gained momentum and dominated the latter half of the first 45-minutes of the game. Due to the impressive performance of the midfield and the defense, the women allowed just two shots on goal in the first 45-minutes of play, while taking 11 of their own.
Of the 11 shots that were taken, Senior Captain Danielle Widman was able to connect on an opportunity—assisted by Junior Allison Morgan and Sophomore Annie White—which gave UNH a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute. Just five minutes after the Chargers got on the scoreboard, St. Thomas Aquinas threatened to even the score with a one-on-one breakaway. When the shot was taken all eyes turned to Senior Deandra Nash to come up with the save, and she did not disappoint. Nash knocked away the shot and would secure the Chargers 1-0 lead at the end of the first half.
The Chargers took the momentum they acquired towards the end of the first half and came out with the enthusiasm needed to hammer home this victory. They remained in control of possession for the entirety of the half, recording 15 shots on goal compared to the Spartans two.
The second-half scoring was dominated by the underclassmen from UNH. Sophomore Sarah Bosco, with the help of Morgan once again, found the net in the 53rd minute, which extended the Chargers lead to 2-0. Not long after Bosco recorded the teams’ second goal, Senior Captain Sierra Stein, with assistance from Freshman Sorcha Ni Bhraonain, scored in the 58th minute—pounding the ball into the top center of the net. This now put the Chargers on top three goals to none, which at this point in the match seemed to be enough to hold on to the victory.
However, the Chargers were not done yet, as Freshman Tana Tufts proved. For Tufts, the 70th minute of the match will be a historic one, for it was then that she recorded her first collegiate goal from well beyond the 18. The initial shot was taken by Freshman Grace Scorcia, and the recovery pass to Tufts from Scorcia worked in their favor. When then ball reached the net free of obstruction, Tufts’ immediate response was disbelief. Her teammates, both those on the field and those on the bench, erupted at the freshmen’s feat and showered her with high-fives and hugs.
As the game entered the final minutes, the women from UNH refused to let up. With the ball in the Spartans end, Sophomore Emily Morello was awarded a free kick from 35 yards out and buried the ball in the back of the net with just 48 seconds remaining in the game.
When the clock reached zero, the Chargers reveled in their decisive 5-0 victory over the Spartans. With this win the women improved to 3-0 as they head into the weekend for their first NE10 match-up against the Le Moyne Dolphins.
The Chargers look to beat the Dolphins in similar fashion to last year and come away with their first conference win. If you wish to cheer on the women, but can’t make the four and a half hour trip, you can tune into the live video stream on the Le Moyne Athletics website.
