Rugar, Williams Net Goals as UAlbany Women's Soccer Opens 2015 With 2-1 Road Victory at Davidson
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Postgame Interviews (Facebook) - Nick Bochette | Mariah Williams | Alana Brennan
DAVIDSON, N.C. – The UAlbany women's soccer started the 2015 season with a hard fought 2-1 road victory at Davidson.
With Alana Brennan making a couple of diving saves in goal, the UAlbany (1-0) front line saw Kiana Rugar and Mariah Williams net goals for the victory. It is the team's second season-opening victory in the last three years.
“We have worked very hard as a team this preseason to put ourselves in position to play very well for long stretches of the game,” said acting head coach Nick Bochette, who leads UAlbany to the team's first victory over an Atlantic 10 opponent since 2010. “Davidson is a good opponent; they play in a good league with good athletes that made us work for everything we could get.”
Williams scored the game-winner in the 65th minute after a throw-in. The ball was headed towards Williams who tapped the ball forward in the box and beat the keeper to the next touch. Williams chipped the ball over the keeper for the score.
“The ball went up in the air, and I just jumped up for it and got something on it,” said Williams of her goal. “It flicked by the keeper, and the defender was closing in, and I just tried to get a foot on it and get it in the net.”
Brennan saved five shots on six attempts on goal for her first victory of the year and 15th in her UAlbany career.
“When we first saw them come after us, we thought they were attacking with a lot of numbers,” said Brennan. “They got some good shots off, but our defense stepped up and played fantastic tonight.”
Rugar scored the game's first goal in the 35th minute, with the lone Davidson (0-1) goal coming from Adelaide Cummings in the 42nd. Alex Carpenter got the loss for Davidson in goal, saving three shots.
In the first couple of minutes, Davidson was the early aggressor, forcing the ball on the near side outside the box. On a cross from Sarah Tuggle, a rebound out of the box resulted in a straight-away shot from Natalie Connell. Connell's shot from 20-out to the right post was saved by a diving Brennan, with the resulting corner not leading to a shot.
Davidson got to the offensive third again on the near side with a kick going outside the box. Vicky Bruce shot for the right post, missing wide. UAlbany countered as Caroline Kopp crossed the ball wide. Alexa Schneider recovered a crossed again, with Carpenter catching the ball before Vivian Vega could head it.
Near minute 15, the home team got a free kick into the box. Bruce headed the ball well over the crossbar. The goal kick was intercepted by a streaking forward. Kopp got in front and knocked the ball away to keep the game scoreless.
Brennan came up with another big save after Bruce got a breakaway from the back line. Bruce aimed for the right post from the left side as Brennan dove and punched the ball away with one hand.
UAlbany saw its first chance in the 22nd minute as Shelby Belak passed into the box to Vega. Vega passed out to Krista Fitzpatrick who fired from just outside the box straight-away, missing left.
Leanne Miller led a UAlbany push in minute 27, avoiding a double team with a kick off a defender for a corner. Fitzpatrick arced the corner towards the far post, where a header by Kopp missed right.
In the 35th minute, Schneider gave the ball to Rugar just outside the offensive third. Rugar dribbled got past a double team of defenders into the box, kicked to the cage and scored in the middle of the net past the keeper for a 1-0 UAlbany lead.
Davidson kept attacking and, in the 42nd minute, put a number of players inside the box. Jenna Isaac's shot was blocked into the air, which was softly headed inside the left post past a diving Brennan for a Davidson goal to tie the game at 1-1, the eventual halftime score.
The home team got the early chances in the second half, including Bruce arcing a high ball into the box. Brennan got hands on the ball and a defender kicked it away to prevent a potential shot.
After holding against a couple of corners, UAlbany went forward with a 4-vs-4 try. Belak raced from the back and found Vega inside the box for a shot, which missed wide right.
UAlbany got a corner kick in the 62nd minute after Belak went down the sideline and kicked the ball off a defender. Davidson defended, but UAlbany remained aggressive on its offensive end. In minute 65, Williams got the ball in the in the box and tapped it forward. She went for the ball and beat the keeper to it, tapping the ball above Carpenter's head and into the net to make it 2-1 UAlbany.
The Great Danes kept possession on their offensive half as they found connections in the midfield. Meghan Malone came in and twice passed to potential shooters. A pass to Kelly Kempf near the left post was wide, while her pass to Caitlyn Paltsios resulted in a straight-away shot from the top of the box, seeing Carpenter save the ball on the right post.
Davidson started to push back and kept going towards the near side corner as the UAlbany back line kept stopping chances. In the 78th minute, Ashley Finke rocketed a shot from far side 30 yards out. The ball hit the crossbar and went back. Davidson tried to re-organize, but the UAlbany line held and no shot resulted.
UAlbany continued to hold as Davidson continued to push forward, seeing a Bruce shot against saved by Brennan. Later, Brennan made another strong play as Shannon Ballard passed inside the box towards an open Megan Smith. Brennan charged forward and fell on the ball before a shot came off.
In the closing minutes, Davidson got a late corner kick and free kick chance. On the corner, a kick intended to put the ball in the center of the box was caught by Brennan. The free kick was stopped and kicked away by Malone to essentially end the game.
UAlbany remains in North Carolina for its next contest, taking on Campbell in Buies Creek on Monday, August 24th at 7:30 p.m.
