BOX SCORE
West Hartford, CT – The University of Hartford women's soccer team suffered a 2-1 loss to America East conference foe New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon. The loss, which was the Hawks' second on Al-Marzook Field this season, drops Hartford to 4-6-2 overall with a 0-1-1 mark in the league. The Wildcats improve to 2-9-1 overall with the win, improving their record in the America East to 1-2-0.
The Hawks and Wildcats battled through 45 minutes of scoreless soccer to open the game. The game remained knotted at zero until New Hampshire notched two-straight scores within five minutes of each other, putting the game out of reach for the Hawks. Hartford battled back to cut the New Hampshire lead in half in the 90th minute, put could not put the equalizer on the scoreboard in the final minute of play.
Despite New Hampshire outshooting Hartford 6-3 in the first period, the Hawks' defense put great pressure on the Wildcats' attack, not allowing their opponents to enter the zone. The Hawks' best look at the goal came at 16:13, when senior Becky Flowers used a strong right foot from 20 yards out and just missed the upper right corner of the goal.
New Hampshire put its first notch on the scoreboard midway through the second period, as rookie Monique Lamotte found the back of the net at 64:13 for her first collegiate goal. Lamotte fired a high, hard shot at Hartford keeper Lauren Brodeur from about 25 yards out. Brodeur miscalculated the shot and was able to barely get a hand on the ball, however Lamotte's shot deflected off her fingertips into the goal, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead over the Hawks.
The Wildcats doubled their score just five minutes later in the 70th minute as Alyssa Michel netted her first goal of the 2009 season. New Hampshire defender Kelly Spencer got the attack going as she cleared the ball down field finding Shaunna Kaplan in the Hawks' zone. From about 20 yards out on the right, Kaplan found teammate Michel streaking behind Hartford's defense straight on the goal. Michel gained control of the ball, and unloaded a shot past Brodeur to give the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage.
The Hawks cut the Wildcats' lead in half in the final minutes of the game as Laura Guigli and Shealagh Begley connected to light up the scoreboard in Hartford's favor. With just 58 ticks remaining on the game clock, Guigli sent a pass from straight on the goal across the box to a streaking Begley, who deposited her shot from 15 yards out on the left side. Begley directed her shot to the far right, past New Hampshire keeper Ally Yost, notching the first goal of her collegiate career.
For the Wildcats, Yost recorded six saves en route to her second victory of the season. Brodeur made three stops, while allowing two New Hampshire goals.
The Hawks continue America East conference play with back-to-back games on the road at Binghamton and UMBC. The Hawks take on the Bearcats on Thursday, October 8 before facing the Retrievers on Sunday, October 11.
