University of Albany Women's Soccer Defeats Sacred Heart 3-2 in Overtime - UAlbany Sports 2011

Albany, N.Y. - Senior Chrissy Klepper took a long pass from Rebecca Lee and redirected it into the left side of the goal with 18 seconds remaining in overtime to give UAlbany a 3-2 victory in the first women's soccer game of 2011, on Friday afternoon at Varsity Field.

The Great Danes scored two early goals in the first half. Sophomore Aubrey VanGorder tallied her first goal of the game just over five minutes into play, collecting a failed clear by the Sacred Heart goalkeeper and finding the back of the net. Van Gorder added her second tally of the day five minutes later, taking a pass from Klepper into the box, and putting a shot over the keepers head into the right side of the goal.

Sacred Heart responded in the 17th minute, getting an unassisted goal by Ashley Moore to cut the Pioneers' deficit to one. Amanda Stiles tied the game at 2-2 with just 45 seconds left in regulation, as Maggie O'Callaghan connected with Stiles on a corner kick that slipped past UAlbany goalkeeper Dani Britt.

The teams battled through most of the overtime until Lee found Klepper wide open up the field. Klepper collected the pass and redirected the ball past Sacred Heart's Talia Schwartz to give the Great Danes the sudden victory.

UAlbany outshot Sacred Heart, 22-8, while the Pioneers recorded an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks. Sydney Judkins, who started in net, made two saves, while Schwartz played the remainder of the game between the pipes, also stopping two shots for Sacred Heart (0-1). Britt went the distance for UAlbany, making three saves in goal.

UAlbany (1-0) was scheduled to return to action on Sunday at Rhode Island, but that game has been postponed due to Hurricane Irene. Rescheduling information for that game can be found on www.ualbanysports.com. The Great Danes' next scheduled match is Friday, Sept. 2 at St. John's.

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information