Box Score JOHNSON, Vt. – The Norwich women's soccer team got its 2011 campaign off on the right foot with a 3-2 win over Johnson State on Thursday at Minaert Field in non-conference action.
After a scoreless first half, sophomore midfielder Baylie Lamarre gave the Cadets a 1-0 lead when she corralled a loose ball at the top of the box and beat Johnson State goalkeeper Amber McCullock to her right in the 48th minute.
Senior forward Nikki Szczepanski started the chance by dribbling past a pair of Johnson State defenders on the wing. She turned and dropped the ball back to Alex Frank who served the ball into the box. Frank's serve was deflected away from the net by a Johnson State defender, but wound up right on the foot of Lamarre who buried the opportunity.
"One of the biggest things we wanted to do coming out of halftime was play quicker," NU head coach Beth Van Parys said. "Our energy and pace of play was much better, which led to a couple of great one-two touches and we were able to find Baylie wide open for a great shot. She put it right where she needed to with a lot of pace on it."
The Badgers leveled the score 19 minutes later when Jen Ferrari pushed a ball just past the fingertips of Norwich goalkeeper Liz Chapdelaine, who was making her first collegiate appearance in goal.
Norwich (1-0, 0-0 GNAC) wasted no time regaining the lead however as sophomore Grace Fitzpatrick got behind the Johnson State backline and flicked a centering pass from Caitlyn Trepess past a diving McCullock to make it 2-1 just 1:45 later.
Junior midfielder Bianca Bogda stretched the lead to 3-1 in the 72nd minute by heading home a corner kick feed from classmate Brittany Casey.
The Badgers cut the lead back to one in the 78th minute when Ally Bataille beat Chapdelaine over the top. Chapdelaine initially got a piece of the ball with her hand, but it bounced behind her and into the back of the net before she could recover.
Casey was a catalyst on offense all day for Norwich, tallying 10 of the Cadets' 28 shots. Chapdelaine recorded her first career win, turning aside seven shots on nine chances. McCullock took the loss for Johnson State, recording 15 saves on 18 shots on goal.
Despite outshooting the Badgers 14-5 in the first half, Norwich was unable to get on the board even after earning eight corner kicks.
"In the first half we looked like a team playing our first game," Van Parys said. "We were getting our legs under us and sorting out how to play with the new players."
The Cadets return to action on Sept. 7 when they host Colby-Sawyer in non-conference action for their home opener at Howard Field.
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