Boston College
Connecticut
Women's Soccer Tumbles On Penalty Kicks To UConn
November 16, 2007 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 16, 2007
CHESTNUT HILL, MA -
It was the battle of old Big East foes as Boston College and Connecticut took the field for a first round match of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. The battle lasted through regulation and two overtimes before ending with the Huskies advancing to the next round on penalty kicks, 0-0 (5-4 PK's), over the Eagles.
The Eagles finish the season with an 11-5-4 record, while the Huskies move to the second round with a 12-5-4 record. The Huskies will face Wake Forest, who defeated BU 2-1 in the first game, on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. at the Newton Soccer Field.
After 110 minutes of back and forth action, the Eagles season came down to penalty kicks. With the penalty kicks tied at 3-3 going into the sixth round of shots, BC's Brianna Wilson-Byrne gave BC a 4-3 lead. The Huskies tied it on a goal by Elizabeth Eng to advance the PK session to the eighth round. Huskies goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe, who had scored the second goal in the shootout to give UConn a 2-1 lead, came up with a big save to set her team up for victory. Meghan Cunningham then calmly drilled a shot into the left corner for a Huskies victory.
In the first overtime Boston College almost put the game away when sophomore Kelly Henderson sailed a header over the crossbar off a corner kick. Freshman Natalie Crutchfield made a run down the sideline and put a shot off the crossbar. Sophomore Gina DiMartino picked up the rebound and placed a shot high over the goal. With three minutes to play in the stanza, freshman Hannah Cerrone's shot went low to the far post but Labbe got a hand on the ball and cleared it to keep the game knotted at 0-0.
The second overtime, Boston College held UConn to no shots, while they had two good chances. Crutchfield and freshman Chelsea Regan both had shots that just went wide of the goal.
Boston College finished the game with 19 shots, while Connecticut had 15. The Eagles out-shot the Huskies, 8-1, in the two overtime periods. The Eagles also had four corner kicks, three in the overtimes.
Both goalkeepers played well as BC's Sarah Buonomo, who had two stops in the PK session, finished with eight saves. Labbe had six saves in the match for the Huskies.
