SISCHO NETS OVERTIME WINNER

AS SAINTS TOP UTICA, 2-1

Sept. 1: The St. Lawrence University women’s soccer team opened the 2007 season with an exciting 2-1 overtime win over the Utica College Pioneers at the Lotto Classic, hosted by Clarkson University.

Junior captain Lauren Sischo had the game-winning goal for the Saints after more than 97 minutes of play. The Rodman, NY native, who tallied two overtime game-winners last season, took a pass from first-year student Lizzie Bogosian, beat her defender and rifled a shot past Utica goaltender Ashley Kaufman to seal the win for St. Lawrence.

“Though Lauren scored the winning goal, there wasn’t one player who stood out in the game,” Head Coach Deb Biche said. “The team worked together and the win was a group effort.”

The game was a quiet one in the first half as the Saints and Pioneers combined for seven total shots. However, the second half was a different story with St. Lawrence’s Megan Howard scoring the first goal of the game in the 58 th minute. First-year Katie Oram sent a long shot into the net that was deflected by Kaufman, but the rebound found its way to Howard who blasted a hard shot into the corner that Kaufman was unable to redirect out of the net, giving the Saints a 1-0 lead early in the second half.

The Pioneers responded quickly and first-year keeper Hayleigh Hochberg just missed a low groundball sent into the left corner of the net by Utica’s Danielle Smith, bringing the score to 1-1, which stood throughout the end of regulation time.

The Saints defense was able to contain the Pioneers, allowing only four shots the entire game, while the Scarlet and Brown tallied 18 shots in the contest, 14 shots on goal, and a 13-2 edge in the final 53 minutes of the game.

“We created a lot of scoring opportunities against a strong defensive team.” Biche said. “We used our depth to our advantage. I felt like when we wore down, we brought in some new players that gave us an edge.”

The Saints (1-0-0) will face Norwich in the Lotto Classic title game tomorrow, Sunday, September 2nd at 2:30pm in Potsdam, NY.