Ariana Calderon's (Sacramento, CA) hat trick led the visiting Long Island women's soccer team past the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights , 3-1, on Sunday afternoon at University Stadium. The Knights fall to 5-8-0 overall with a 2-2-0 mark in Northeast Conference play, while the Blackbirds improve to 9-3-1 on the season, including a 3-0-0 mark in league action.
Calderon's first goal came in the 14th minute, when she headed in a corner kick from Nicole Allen (Spencer, MA) for a 1-0 lead. Calderon added to the Blackbirds lead in the 49th minute when she netted a header off a free kick from Allen.
The Knights had a chance to get on the board with 27 minutes on the clock when Jen Arceneaux (Arvada, CO) fired a shot into the left side of the goal, but the ball deflected off the post.
In the 64th minute, Calderon took a penalty kick after a foul in the box and she found the back of the net to put the Blackbirds ahead, 3-0.
FDU responded when Julie Woolridge (St. John's, Newfoundland/Bishops College) (St. John's, Newfoundland), in a scramble in front of the net, took a feed from Amanda Wheeler (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) (Marlton, NJ) and knocked it in to put the Knights on the board.
Rachel Derrico (/Canon McMillan) (Canonsburg, PA) played between the posts for the Knights, making three saves. Tammy Johnson (Maryland Heights, MO) played the first half for LIU making one save and Christine DeLashmutt (Columbine, CO) made two saves in goal for the Blackbirds in the final 45.
“I feel like we gave this one away,” said Head Coach Renee Montana. “Long Island is a very strong team and we just never got into our game. I had a couple of key players not show up today. In this conference, you can't win games just sitting back and waiting for it to happen. You have to make it happen.”
The Blackbirds held a 10-7 advantage in shots and a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.
The Knights are back in action on Sunday, Oct. 19 when they host Sacred Heart at 1:00 p.m.
