Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Plattsburgh State
rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to score the next two goals and
deny the Norwich women's soccer team an undefeated non-conference
season, as well as hand the Cadets their first home loss of the
year at Howard Field.
Norwich (11-4-2, 8-3-2 GNAC) wasted little time getting on the
board as junior forward Brittany
Casey scored her team-leading 15th goal of
the season just 1:17 into the match to give the Cadets a 1-0
lead.
NU senior defender Stacey
Flint sent a high long through ball down the left side
of the field that Casey corralled. She then beat her defender and
let go of a laser strike that beat Plattsburgh State starting
goalkeeper Danielle Schmitt over her head and to the right upper
corner of the net.
Plattsburgh State (7-6-3, 4-4-1 SUNYAC) slowly started to build
momentum from there though and the Cardinals leveled the score in
the 20th minute when Renee Egan scored off an assist
from Lindsey Keyser to knot the score at one.
Keyser beat a Norwich defender along the wing and then dribbled
along the end line to the edge of the penalty area. She then sent a
crossing pass right to the foot of Egan who promptly deposited the
ball into the far corner of the net.
The Cardinals took the lead for good in the 61st
minute when Leigh Metcalf scored on a similar set-up to PSU's first
goal. This time it was Egan who evaded an NU defender and then
dribbled along the end line while Metcalf ran to space on the weak
side. Egan crossed it to the far post and Metcalf tapped it home
before NU goalkeeper Meghan
Kennedy could recover to give Plattsburgh State the
2-1 lead.
Plattsburgh State goalkeeper Monica D'Ippolito picked up the win
after taking over for Schmitt at the start of the second half.
D'Ippolito made four saves. Kennedy was saddled with the loss for
Norwich despite turning aside six shots.
The Cardinals outshot Norwich 23-14 and improved to 9-1-0
all-time against the Cadets.
Norwich was without two of its starting midfielders who were
held out in preparation for Saturday's GNAC Tournament Quarterfinal
match against St. Joseph (Conn.). The Cadets host the fifth-seeded
Blue Jays at 1 p.m. at Howard Field. NU will be looking to take the
next step after it fell 1-0 to Lasell in the GNAC Championship last
year.
NOTES: Wednesday's game marked the first time that Norwich
senior defender Stacey Flint played against her
sister, Sidney, who is a freshman on the Plattsburgh State soccer
team. They both grew up in Jay, N.Y. and attended Alexander High
School and were on the varsity team together for two years.
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-CADETS-
