Springfield, Mass – September 24, 2008 – Senior Kayla Thibeault (Lebanon, Conn.) found the back of the net with 13 minutes left in the game but the Springfield College womenÂ's soccer team couldnÂ't hang on as it tied the visiting Amherst Lord Jeffs, 1-1, on Wednesday evening at Brock-Affleck Field in the Irv Schmid Sports Complex.
With the tie, the Pride moves to 4-2-1, while Amherst is now 2-1-1.
Amherst jumped all over the home squad with constant pressure to start the game, but the Pride defense stood tall as it withstood several early scoring chances from the Lord Jeffs. Natalie Ferrailo had a terrific scoring chance as she had a breakaway that Springfield goalie Sue Jenney (Agawam, Mass.) denied with just less than five minutes remaining in the opening half.
The teams ended the first half of play scoreless as Amherst held a 6-4 lead in shots.
However, the Pride came out of the half with plenty of energy as it controlled the second half from the onset. The Pride nearly netted the first goal of the game as Nicole Hanewich (Smithfield, R.I.) had a one-on-one opportunity with Amherst keeper Lili Ferguson, but Ferguson snuffed out the PrideÂ's scoring chance.
Thibeault finally put the Pride on the board as she took a nice feed from Caitlin Sawczuk (Plainville, Conn.) during a Springfield counter attack. Thibeault took the pass from her left and bent a shot from the top of the box over the keeperÂ's head with 13 minutes to go in regulation to give the Pride a 1-0 advantage.
The Lord Jeffs would not go away as they tied the game at one-all just 3:09 later. Off a corner kick, Mary Marvel headed home the ball off a feed from Kate Moriarty as Amherst seemed to regain the momentum.
Neither team could muster a solid scoring chance in either of the overtime sessions as both squads combined for just three shots in the two overtimes.
Jenney finished with 14 saves in the game, making several terrific stops to keep the Lord Jeffs at bay. Ferguson recorded seven saves for the visitors.
Springfield returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Babson at 12:00 noon.
