LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 24, 2008) – Junior goalkeeper Jessica Boyer (Pittsburgh, Pa/Mount Lebanon) (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Mount Lebanon) stopped five shots, but Northeast Conference unbeaten Long Island scored a late goal to hand the Saint Francis women's soccer team a tough 3-2 loss on Friday afternoon at the Stokes Soccer Complex.
Brittany Schandelmayer put the ball into the top left corner from 24 yards out to give the Blackbirds the decisive goal at 87 minutes, 3 seconds.
Senior Jennilee Morrison (Jeannette, Pa./Jeannette) (Jeannette, Pa. / Jeannette) and sophomore Chelsea Traurig (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) (McMurray, Pa. / Peters Township) tallied goals for the Red Flash, and senior Alanna Vespa (Ancaster, Ontario/Saint Mary’s Catholic) (Ancaster, Ontario, Canada / Saint Mary's Catholic) tallied an assist.
Saint Francis got on the board first with Morrison's second goal of the season at 11:15. Vespa sent a corner kick into the six-yard box, where it got past LIU goalkeeper Christine DeLashmutt. Morrison knocked it into the net off her body to give SFU a 1-0 lead.
Kim Bishop, who had a goal and an assist, scored the equalizer at 29:22 off a free kick. Nicole Allen sent the ball into the 18-yard box, where Bishop headed the ball from 12 yards out into the top right corner.
Jenae' Piper gave Long Island a 2-1 lead on her first goal of the season after Bishop found a seem to hit her with a breakaway pass. Piper put the ball into the right side of the net from 10 yards out.
But Saint Francis wouldn't go quietly. Traurig tallied her second goal of the 2008 campaign after a flurry of activity from her teammates. Junior Rachael Seibert (Murrysville, Pa/Franklin Regional) (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) had a hard shot from 16 yards saved. The rebound came back out to junior Katie Dougherty (Downington, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) (Downington, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan), who laser a shot that bounced off the crossbar. The ball then came back to the feet of Traurig, who took advantage of her opportunity to tie the game at 2-2 at 61:35.
However, Schandelmayer gave the Blackbirds the win with her game-winner in the 88th minute.
Long Island had an 11-6 edge in shots, and a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Seibert tallied three shots in the contest for SFU.
The Red Flash will try to bounce back on Sunday when Wagner visits for a 2 p.m. contest.
