Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University women's soccer team fought valiantly for 76 minutes, but ultimately couldn't stave off a late Johnson & Wales' rally, falling 2-1 to the Wildcats on Monday night on Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium.
Norwich (2-9-1, 0-7-1 GNAC) came within 14 minutes of securing its first victory since the opening weekend after getting a first-half goal from Tiana Cass (Torrington, Conn.) and then defending the lead for a majority of the second half.
However, Johnson & Wales freshman midfielder Gabriella Weihofer played the role of spoiler, scoring twice in the final 14 minutes to help the Wildcats steal the three points and prevent Norwich from getting its first league win of the season.
Weihofer finally solved Norwich sophomore goalkeeper Holly Lutz (Hamburg, N.J.) and the Cadets' defense at the 76:51 mark when she buried a ball into a wide open net after evading the Norwich goalkeeper off a pass from Sarah Murphy to free her to space.
Weihofer struck again just under 10 minutes later when she drove a ball from 25 yards out over the head of Lutz and into the top left corner of the net to give Johnson & Wales its first lead of the game.
Norwich took the lead in the 28th minute when Cass used her speed to outrace JWU keeper Alex Place and a Wildcat defender to a loose ball and then slid the ball into an open net. Freshman Darby Smith (Northfield, Vt.) chipped the ball up to Cass with a sliding effort about 30 yards out. Cass ran down the ball as Place came out of the net and then stepped around the Wildcat keeper before driving the ball into the back of the net for her third goal of the season.
Norwich defended the lead 50 minutes, staving off constant pressure by JWU. The Wildcats outshot Norwich 28-12 for the game and 15-5 in the second half. JWU had seven corner kicks to Norwich's two as well.
Lutz made eight saves for Norwich to fall to 0-2 on the season. Place made four saves for JWU to improve to 4-6-1 on the season.
Norwich will try again on Saturday when it travels to Rivier for a 3:30 p.m. conference matchup with the Raiders.
