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Recap | Box Score
Rivals Gators, Nighthawks battle to 1-1 tie
CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Pine Manor's Beth Deegan tied the
contest at 1-1 with a deep goal in the 23rd minute, and
it stayed tied for the remaining 87, as the Gators and Brookline
rival Newbury played to a 1-1 tie Wednesday evening in Chestnut
Hill.
The Nighthawks (1-0-1) controlled much of the early going, peppering Gators goalkeeper Colleen Tencza (South Meriden, CT/Platt) early in the first. The keeper made a lunging save on a Jessica Graus (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) header in the sixth minute. A minute later, at the 36:26 mark, Tencza sprawled out to her right to make a diving save on another Graus shot, only for Newbury's Holly Ballard (Douglas, MA/David Prouty) to hammer home the rebound to take a 1-0 lead.
Just over a minute later, the Nighthawks nearly made it 2-0,
too. Ashley Green-Allen, the team's leading returning scorer from a
year ago, was on a breakaway one-on-one with Tencza at the 35:12
mark. As Green-Allen launched her shot from the right corner of the
keeper box, Pine Manor defender Jess Kennedy (Lakeville,
MA/Apponequet) slid from behind to block the offering and keep the
Gators within a goal.
Kennedy's block propelled the Gators, which controlled much of
the game from the midpoint of the first half through the second
overtime. At the 22:36 mark, Deegan (Philadelphia, PA/Little
Flower) took a feed from Sivan Thammachak (Fitchburg, MA/Fitchburg)
just over midfield, dribbled in and blasted a shot from straight on
into the top center of the net, over Newbury's Jennifer Anderson
for her third goal of the season. Pine Manor forward and leading
scorer Alicia Grenier (Swansea, MA/Case) drew the post in her best
attempt of the day, and the teams went into halftime tied 1-1.
Cory Kinsella's club came out of halftime right where they left
off, controlling the tempo and keeping the ball deep in Newbury
territory. Grenier launched six corner kicks in the opening minutes
of the second, including three in the 60th minute alone,
but the Gators could never capitalize.
Grenier and Pine Manor's Stephanie Gomes put shots on goal in
the first extra frame, and Grenier and Deegan both fired shots
wide. The best opportunity of either overtime came in the
109th minute, when Newbury's Ashleigh Guy booted an
offering wide to the bottom right of the post, leaving the local
rivals to settle for a 1-1 tie.
On the day, Pine Manor led Newbury in corner kicks 12-5 and
outshot the Nighthawks 23-17, 11-7 in shots on goal. Anderson made
a game-high seven saves, which Tencza stopped six shots for the
Gators. Also for Pine Manor, Thammachak scored for the second game
in a row, notching her first career assist.
Pine Manor returns to action a week from today, wrapping up a four-game, season opening homestand and returning to GNAC play against Rivier at 4 p.m.
Game story provided by Ryan McCarthy - SID, Pine Manor College
