WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The Hartford women's soccer team dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to NJIT in its 2021 regular-season finale at Al-Marzook Field on Thursday night. Emma Bitar's goal for the Highlanders in the 69th minute proved to be the difference.
With the setback, the Hawks, who narrowly missed the postseason, conclude the campaign with an 8-4-4 overall record and a 3-3-3 mark in America East play. NJIT (7-10-1, 5-3-1 AE) clinched a postseason bid with its third-straight win.
PHOTO GALLERY
NJIT 1, HARTFORD 0
The Hawks had ample scoring opportunities in the opening half, with sophomore
Imani Jenkins coming inches away from putting the home team on the board first. Gathering a feed from classmate
Chloe Layne from on top of the box, she rifled a shot on target, but NJIT keeper Molly Saylor got her fingertips on the ball to redirect it over the crossbar in the 34th minute.
The teams would enter the halftime break scoreless, despite the Hawks holding a 10-3 advantage in shots. Hartford had another encounter with the crossbar in the 50th minute, when Layne's attempt went just a few inches too high. The Hawks had a chance to punch one in on the rebound, but Jenkins set the shot just wide of the far post.
NJIT caught a break in the 69th minute. Lauren Chamberlain sent a cross into the box, finding Bitar, who slipped inside a defender and headed the go-ahead tally into the back of the net. Despite the field continuing to tilt in favor of the Hawks, including a 12-minute stretch that saw Hartford take 10 shot attempts, they were unable to find the game-tying strike.
INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES
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