Nov. 5, 2006
Final Stats
Fairfield, Conn. - The Saints Championship hopes came to a halt this afternoon at Lessing Field on the campus of Fairfield University. The Purple Eagles topped the Saints 2-1 and advance to the 2006 Women's Soccer NCAA Tournament. Forward Brittany Bisnott posted two first half goals to lead Niagara past the Saints 2-1.
"Obviously I am a little disappointed," said head coach Steve Karbowski. "This team has made it farther than any team I have ever coached. We played hard, just as I thought we would. You can't ask more from a group of kids, they played their hearts out."
The Saints jumped out to an early lead in the 23rd minute when midfielder Chelsea Maguire (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Shenendehowa) tracked down a feed from sophomore Shana Brady (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) on the right side, beat her defender and chipped one over the charging goalkeeper Sarah Stephens. This marked Maguire's third goal and seventh point of the season.
The Purple Eagles battled back when Bisnott notched her 20th goal of the year at 33:22. Bisnott collected a loose ball on the right side and placed it in the open goal as goalkeeper Patti Carroll (Middle Grove, N.Y./Galway) got caught to far outside the net. Just over a minute later, Bisnott added the game winner when she accepted a feed from midfielder Shaylyn Lawrence, got free inside the box and placed it past the charging Carroll. Carroll tallied four saves on the day and finishes the season 8-6-1 in goal.
The Saints outshot Niagara 7-6 in the second half, but could not capitalize on a scoring opportunity. In the 54th minute, midfielder Erinn Flaherty (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) sent a free kick inches high of the crossbar. Minutes later, Flaherty just missed a scoring opportunity when she collected the ball outside the box, juked her defender and fired an open look on goal only to be saved by Stephens.
Senior Kristen Turner (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./John Jay), Flaherty and Brady were named to the 2006 MAAC Championship All Tournament Team. Turner posted the game winning goal Friday night versus Loyola sending the Saints to the championship game for just the second time in school history (1996). The Saints complete the 2006 campaign 9-8-2 overall and 5-3-1 in league play.
