Sept. 7, 2007

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - University at Albany senior Rachel Boles broke a 1-1 tie on a goal with 7:10 left in the second overtime, lifting the visiting Great Danes to a 2-1 sudden death win over New Jersey Institute of Technology in the home women's soccer opener for the Highlanders Friday night.

Boles finished a quick-developing play, as UAlbany's attack re-directed the ball twice while still advancing through the offensive third to set up the winning tally in the 113th minute. Teresa Boring and Diana Barrera got assists on the zig-zagging play, with the ball rapidly going from right to left and back to right, where Boles notched the game-winner from about 10 yards away.

NJIT scored first in the entertaining game that saw both squads build creative attacks, which were usually answered with solid defensive stops. Highlander freshman Christi Taylor fired the ball into the upper right corner off an assist by Aine O'Dwyer at 29:27.

"Christi Taylor had a bomb," said NJIT coach Alyssa Radu. "We've know she was capable of that since we recruited her and she's the second freshman to step up for us with that kind of goal (including a preseason scrimmage)."

NJIT's 1-0 advantage held despite a couple of good chances, including a one-on-one breakaway stop by Highlander freshman keeper Sadie Mele on Boring with just under eight minutes left in the first half.

The Great Danes pulled even less than three minutes into the second half, as Barrera, a junior, scored off of a feed from senior Alicia Gibson at 47:58.

The match was deadlocked through the remaining 42:02 of regulation, 10 minutes of the first overtime and nearly three minutes into the second overtime.

"The first 45 minutes, we controlled," said Radu. "The second 45 minutes, they controlled. This was a Division I soccer game and there is a very fine line for error. They found a way to get the winning goal."

The result, while just short of a tie, was much better than when the teams met last September and Albany won, 6-1, in the New York State Capital. "We earned their respect," said Radu. "We didn't get the result we wanted, but we put together some good things. It's tough to get a result at this level.

"I'm happy with where we are, but we have some areas we have to improve. I think we played the way we can for the first 45 minutes and if we had played half that well after that, we could have won. It's a matter of putting it all into 90 minutes."

Assessing her team, Radu noted the play of the backs, the goalkeeper Mele and two other freshmen. "The backs, in general, were good. They won a lot of 50/50 balls, which helped," said Radu. "Sadie (Mele) gave another solid performance. Kori Washington played with energy and created some chances and Kyrsten (Howell-Harries) stood out before she got hurt (blow to the head)."

NJIT, which began a four-match homestand on Friday night, will host Quinnipiac in another non-conference game on Sunday at 3 pm on Lubetkin Field.