Junior defender nets first goal of season with ten minutes left in regulation
Below: Lauren Hickey
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - By all rights, women's
soccer probably deserved a win in Wednesday's non-conference match against Wesleyan University.
As it turned out, the Warriors may have been fortunate to forge a tie.
Despite holding a significant advantage in shots on net, the Warriors needed junior back Lauren Hickey's (Southwick, MA) first goal of the season with 11 minutes left in regulation to force overtime, where the teams played 20 scoreless minutes in settling for a 1-1 tie.
The tie is the fifth this season for Eastern (5-3-3) - second in five days - which has tied three of those matches and lost two. The Warriors did manage to extend their unbeaten streak against Wesleyan (5-3-1) to four games, having won two and tied two of those matches.
Hickey's second career goal was set up by senior midfielder Sarah Swann (Oxford) with just over 11 minutes left in overtime. Swann rebounded from a missed penalty kick ten minutes earlier to contribute her second assist of the year and extend her team-leading point total to 14. Freshman Katrina Ellis-Ferrara's team-tying fourth goal of the year in the 16th minute of play had lifted the hosts into a quick lead, and that advantage stood up until Hickey's game-tying marker.
While there was only a two-shot differential in the game, Eastern peppered Wesleyan freshman keeper Kate Connolly-Smithwick with 11 shots, forcing the keeper to come up with ten saves to keep the match tied. Eastern senior keeper Kim Church (Farmington) lowered her goals-against average to 1.03, making three saves.
Both teams had entered the match having played and lost to three opponents ranked in the most recent New England poll. Two of Eastern's the losses come in overtime.
Eastern returns to Little East Conference play Saturday, hosting the University of Southern Maine at 1 p.m.
Eastern Conn. 1, Wesleyan U. 1, 2 ot
Eastern Conn. (5-3-3) 0 1 (0) (0) -- 1
Wesleyan (5-3-1) 1 0 (0) (0) -- 1
Scoring: W-Kat Ellis-Ferrara (Dasha Battelle) 15:46; E-Lauren Hickey (Sarah Swann) 78:54.
Shots: E-18, W-16; Saves: E-Kim Church 3, W-Kat Connolly-Smithwick 10.
Corner kicks: E-5, W-3.
