The Fairleigh Dickinson women's soccer team saw its two-game win streak snapped Sunday afternoon as they were defeated by NEC-foe Saint Francis PA, 3-2, at University Field in Teaneck. The Knights held a 2-0 advantage at halftime before the Red Flash rallied for three second-half goals to claim the victory. With the victory, the Red Flash improve to 12-4-1 (6-2 NEC), while the Knights fall to 2-14-0 (2-6 NEC) overall.
Before the game started, Fairleigh Dickinson honored four seniors on Senior Day with a ceremony as the Knights were playing their last home game of the season. Seniors Cindy Calderon (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills), Lisa-Marie Curti (Richmond Hill, Ontario/St. Theresa of Lisieux) (Richmond Hill, Ontario/St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic), Leah Halka (Stittsville, Ontario/Sacred Heart Catholic) (Sittsville, Ontario/Sacred Heart Catholic) and Katie Hilder (Caringbah, Sydney, Australia/Woolooware) (Caringbah, Sydney, Australia/Woolooware) were all honored.
In first half action, junior Rashidah Sherman (Pelham Manor, NY/Pelham Memorial) (Pelham Manor, NY/Pelham Memorial) was one-on-one with the Red Flash keeper near the edge of the box on the right side and was able to beat her and deliver a pass to Curti, who scored in the open net for her first goal of the season. The 12th minute goal put the Knights up, 1-0.
In the 35th minute of play, freshman Noelle Harner (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) (Lewisberry, PA) delivered a long pass to Sherman, who then took the ball from 30 yards out and dribbled the ball to the right side and beat the goalkeeper with a tremendous shot in the upper right corner to increase the lead to 2-0. The goal was Sherman's fourth on the season and her third in the last two games. Harner's assist was her third of the season.
The Knights dominated play over the first 45 minutes as they outshot the Red Flash, 8-2.
The second half was a different story as the Red Flash offense put pressure on the Knights. In the 52nd minute, Traci Flick crossed a ball to Tesa McKibben in the box, and she found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 2-1.
A little over two minutes later, McKibben struck again with her second goal of the game as she scored an open net goal from about 12 yards out with the Knights' keeper, junior Stephanie Tanzi (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West), on the ground next to her as she tried to prevent the shot. The goal knotted the game at two.
In the 72nd minute, Beatriz Marcos de Carvalho crossed a ball into the box, and Haleigh Dunyon beat Tanzi on the right side to give the Red Flash a 3-2 lead, which would be the game winner.
With 30 seconds left, the Knights had possession deep into Red Flash territory. Hilder fired a shot from about 18 yards out, but Red Flash goalkeeper Lauren Fearer made a diving save to her left to prevent the game-tying goal.
In the second half, the Red Flash outshot the Knights, 10-6, but the Knights held a 14-12 advantage in shots for the game.
Tanzi made seven saves in net for the Knights, while Fearer made five saves for the Red Flash.
The Knights return to action on Friday, October 29, as they travel to New Britain, CT to take on Central Connecticut State in a Northeast Conference match. Kick-off is slated for 3:00 p.m.
