Oct. 28, 2005
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. -- For the first 34 minutes of the game, Head Coach Jackie Kane watched her team dominate the top-seeded Rider University Broncs and build a 2-0 lead in the semi-finals of the Northeast Conference (NEC) tournament. But the final 36 minutes of the contest proved to be the difference, as the home team posted three unanswered goals to advance in the tourney with a 3-2 win over the Stags.
This game was quite different from a little over a week ago, when Fairfield travelled to the Lawrenceville campus and came home with a 3-0 loss. This time, the Stags took it to the Broncs from the opening moments of the contest. Fairfield pushed the ball into Rider's defensive side of the field for most of the first half, and constantly attacked the back line of Rider.
The pressure finally paid off 25 minutes into the game when junior Allison Mays deflected Caitlin Quinn's initial shot past goaltender Krysta Bearish to put Fairfield in front by a 1-0 score. The fourth-seeded Stags were not appeased with their success, and continued to mount pressure on the Broncs.
Eight minutes later, Amanda Love tallied her first collegiate points when she one-timed a pass from Kelly Rath that caught the corner of the cage to double the Fairfield advantage at 2-0. The lead seemed like it would stand up as halftime quickly approached. However, Rider had one more rush left and used that energy to its advantage. The Broncs' Tricia Crotty wound her way from the left side of the circle and over to the right and unleashed a shot which found the net with 11 seconds remaining in the first half.
Buoyed by their late heroics, Rider came out in the second half and applied its own pressure early in the second half. The Broncs tactics paid off with a goal just four minutes into the second half, tying the score at 2-2 off Meaghan Schweers' goal. The third goal came 13 minutes later when Crotty tallied her fifth game winner of the season off a pass from Ally Hunter, making the score 3-2 in the home team's favor.
The Stags still exhibited life and made several runs inside the circle over the final three minutes, but the Broncs defense was able to turn away any threats.
Fairfield goaltender Elizabeth Thomas played solidly throughout the 70 minutes, making nine saves in the game. The Stags defense was throughly tested in the second half, as Rider was granted 18 penalty corners in the final 35 minutes which raised the team's total to 26 for the game.
Also of note was senior defender Rebecca Odenwaelder's strong play inside the Stags circle. She made two defensive saves midway through the second half to keep the game tied at 2-2.
