Sept. 25, 2009

Box Score

Amherst, Mass. - The Saint Joseph's women's soccer team dropped a hard-fought 2-1 match at Massachusetts Friday afternoon. The Hawks, who lead 1-0 at the break, gave up two second-half goals in dropping their Atlantic 10 opener.

Saint Joseph's (3-4-2, 0-1-0 A-10) jumped out to a 1-0 lead off a major miscue by the Minutewomen in the early going. With the ball deep in Massachusetts end, the ball was kicked inside the Minutewomen's box and deflected off the head of a defender and into the net to give Saint Joseph's a one-goal edge 5:20 into the game.

The Hawks' defense would put forth a stellar effort over the remainder of the half, holding Massachusetts without a shot on net, while SJU's offense peppered the Minutewomen's goal with five shots.

Saint Joseph's lead didn't last long into the second half as Massachusetts scored in its first offensive possession. The Minutewomen's Sydney Stoll centered a pass from the left wing to teammate Therese Smith, who in turn blasted a shot to the lower right corner past SJU's freshman keeper Christine Neal to tie the game at 1-1 at 46:16.

Massachusetts (2-4-2, 1-0-0A-10) took advantage of the momentum and tallied the eventual game winner off a corner kick less than four minutes later. Meredith Fox received the Minutewomen's corner kick and tucked a shot past Neal to give Massachusetts a 2-1 edge at 50:02.

The Hawks were limited to only one shot on net over the remaining time, as sophomore Megan Crable's shot was saved by Massachusetts' backup goalkeeper Emily Cota.

For the game, SJU held a slight 13-12 edge in shots, with both teams recording four corner kicks.

Individually, Neal made three saves between the pipes for the Hawks.

Saint Joseph's returns to action this Sunday when it opens the home portion of its A-10 schedule versus Xavier at 1 p.m.