TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's soccer team battled with reigning Colonial Athletic Association champion Hofstra into double overtime before falling on a golden goal to lose, 2-1.
An early goal by sophomore
Viktorija Miseljic gave the Knights (2-5) a first-half lead over the Pride (4-2), but the visitors came back with a goal in the second half and later scored the winning goal with 4:21 remaining in the second overtime to seal the victory.
"We played a really strong first half," said head coach
Eric Teepe after the match. "We probably had a couple of other chances, but we need to learn how to put those away. We let them come back into the game, and they took it to us. I did like our response after the goal. I thought we created a lot of chances, but we're still not finding that next goal. We just need to manage moments of the game better. We just gave them too many chances at the end, and it's unfortunate because we played well, but moments cost us."
After waiting out a weather delay that pushed the start time back one hour, each team was limited to two shots and only one chance on target in the first 20 minutes. Miseljic fired the first shot of the match two minutes in that the Hofstra keeper saved, and FDU junior goalkeeper
Amanda Fitzgerald saved a Hofstra shot in the 17th minute.
The Knights made an offensive push in the 25th minute when freshman
Madelyn Robbins dribbled the ball past a couple of Pride defenders and into the box. Robbins ripped a line drive shot that the Hofstra keeper deflected, and Miseljic was right there for the rebound, which she buried into the back of the net for her second goal of the season. Robbins earned her first career assist on the goal as well.
FDU's backline of senior
Julia Shea, juniors
Samantha Roff and
Jackson Bennett, and freshman
Noam Kedem continued to stand tough, repeatedly denying the Pride crossing chances and playing well in coverage.
The Knights held their lead through halftime, but Hofstra went on the offensive early in the second period, taking three shots in the first six minutes. The third attempt resulted in a goal for Sabrina Bryan, tying the game at 1-1 in the 51st minute.
FDU dominated the next 15 minutes of action, taking six shots and three corners during that span, but the Burgundy and Blue could not find the back of the net.
Fitzgerald made three saves late in the second half to preserve the 1-1 score, including a diving stab to her left for one save, then punching a ball over the crossbar a few minutes later to make another great stop.
Both teams had one clean look at goal in the first overtime, with junior
Stasi Torchia firing FDU's shot in the 92
nd minute that the Hofstra keeper saved.
Play looked headed for a draw as the second overtime winded down, but with less than five minutes remaining, Hofstra made an offensive push that resulted in Lucy Shepherd scoring the winning goal off a feed from Lucy Porter.
"The one positive is it's a continuation from our last game where we are playing better," Teepe said. "Hopefully that can mean something on Sunday. We want to keep playing better and that's a positive for us, but we got to find a way to win."
Fitzgerald finished with a season-high seven saves in the match. For Miseljic, the goal represented the eighth of her career, giving her 22 career points.
The Knights return to University Stadium Sunday for a match with Army West Point, with first touch set for noon.
