Women's Soccer Battles Norwich to 2-2 Double-OT Tie
| Final | 1 | 2 | OT | OT2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Anna Maria (6-5-1 1-3-1 GNAC) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
Norwich (2-6-1 0-4-1 GNAC) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Cristina Turley (Waterford, Conn.) scored two second-half goals, but the Anna Maria College women's soccer team ultimately tied the Cadets of Norwich University 2-2 in double-overtime in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.
Junior midfielder Clara Leister (Hartland, Vt.) snapped the Cadets' five-game goalless draught in the 11th minute when she buried a crossing pass from Tiana Cass (Torrington, Conn.) to put Norwich up 1-0. Cass crossed the ball over to an oncoming Leister from the left side of the field and Leister promptly one-touched the ball into the bottom left corner of the net for her first collegiate goal.
Norwich (2-6-1, 0-4-1 GNAC) held the lead until the 61st minute when Anna Maria's Turley scored her first of two goals on the day with a header off a corner kick service from Sarah Fogg (Gorham, Maine). Turley headed the ball into the bottom right corner of the net after Fogg delivered a great ball from the left corner flag.
Turley struck again in the 79th minute, roofing a ball into a wide open net after NU goalkeeper Molly Miller came off her line to challenge Melissa Andersen (Oxford, Mass.) to the side of the net. Anderson flipped the ball over to Turley, who blasted the ball into the open net for her second of the day.
However, Norwich didn't go down quietly as the Cadets rallied to score the equalizer. Once again Cass was at the center of it, dribbling around an Anna Maria defender and cutting toward the goal before being taken down from behind in the box to draw a penalty kick.
Senior midfielder Alex Frank (Medford, N.J.) placed the ball into the bottom left corner of the net and just snuck it under the hand of Anna Maria goalkeeper Kate Kneeland (Windham, Maine), who had guessed right by diving to her right.
Neither side was able to score the golden goal game-winner in the two 10-minute overtime sessions.
Kneeland finished with 12 saves for Anna Maria, while Miller made five saves for Norwich. The Cadets outshot Anna Maria 27-15 in the game.
Anna Maria (6-5-1, 1-3-1 GNAC) travels to St. Joseph's (Maine) on Wednesday, Oct. 8. Norwich will travel to Emmanuel on the same night for a 7 p.m. start with the Saints.
