UConn Downs Boston College

BU Falls to Wake Forest

November 17, 2007

NEWTON, Mass. – After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, the University of Connecticut women's soccer team went to the eighth penalty kick to down Boston College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday.

On the eighth kick, freshman Meghan Cunningham (Farmington, Conn.) scored to give the Huskies a 5-4 PK victory and a date with another ACC foe, Wake Forest, after the Demon Deacons advanced with a 2-1 victory over Boston University earlier in the day.

In the UConn game, both teams started slowly as they adjusted to the frigid windy weather. Kacey Richards had the first good chance for the Huskies in the first half when sent a high shot from 22-yeard out which had the goalie beat, but stayed just high of the net. Meghan Schnur had three quality scoring chances during the half. Her best shot came in the 19th minute on the break, when she sent the ball just to the right of the net.

The second half featured an aggressive Boston College attack that tested the UConn defense. Goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe made a big save in the 75th minute diving to stop a Boston College shot. Cunningham followed that up with a chance in the 80th minute off a pass from Elizabeth Eng that Boston College goalie Sarah Buonomo was able to save. Karyn Riviere (Guilford, Conn.) saved the game for UConn four minutes later when after a pass inside the box beat Labbe, she was there to knock the ball away.

In the first overtime, Buonomo thwarted a great chance for UConn in the first minute. Brittany Taylor took a pass from Schnur just outside the box on the right side. She sent a high shot that Buonomo jumped up and caught near the top of the net.

The Terriers' Farrell McClernon had a great chance in the first half.

After an uneventful second OT, UConn jumped up to a 1-0 lead in the shootout when Labbe stopped the very first shot she saw. The Huskies took a 2-1 lead after the second group, when Labbe turned around and scored a goal herself. The Eagles hit two of their final three while UConn missed their next two to force Taylor to make hers to send it into extra penalty kicks. Taylor was able to fake out Buonomo and score to keep the match alive.

Both teams missed on their sixth shot, but the Eagles scored on their seventh forcing Eng to score to keep it alive once again. Labbe made a diving stop on BC's eighth kick which allowed Cunningham to score the game winner.

For the game BC out shot UConn 19-15. Schunr led the team with six shots, while Labbe made six saves. The game is recorded as a tie, so Connecticut is now 12-5-2 on the season. The Eagles finish 11-5-4.

In the earlier match, BU fell behind early, 1-0, rebounded to tie the match, then surrendered a back-breaking goal just six minutes later to fall to Wake Forest, 2-1.

Wake Forest struck first with a goal at 6:44, when Amy Smerdzinksi slid the ball past BU goalkeeper Christina Reuter after receiving a pass inside the six-yard box from Samantha Germano.

BU had a golden opportunity at the 24:23 mark when sophomore Farrell McClernon sent a promising cross into the six-yard box that junior Jennifer Herman went running onto but Wake Forest's Lauren Morse came strongly off her line to cut it off.

The Demon Deacons held the one-goal advantage for the rest of the half and into the second stanza until Terrier sophomore Mara Osher knotted the score, 1-1, in the 50th minute. Junior Meredith Beaton crossed the ball into the box where Osher got on the end of it and slotted it in for her second goal of the season.

But before the momentum could swing in BU's favor, Wake Forest stopped the rally six minutes later to take back the lead for good. After Reuter made an initial stop, Allie Sadow snagged the rebound and slipped it into the back of the lower right corner for the game-winner.

With time running out in regulation, senior Lauren Basham made one last attempt on a near breakaway. McClernon sent Basham down the middle, she then controlled the pass and nailed a hard shot to the corner but Morse snagged the ball on a leaping save.

More finished the game with three saves for the Deamon Deacons, while Reuter registered six stops for the Terriers.

BU finishes with an 11-7-3 overall record after earning its sixth NCAA bid - third consecutive - and fifth America East title. Wake Forest advances to the second round of the tournament Sunday against UConn at Boston College’s Newton Campus Soccer Field. Game time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

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