Box Score ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The game couldn't have started any better, and it couldn't have ended any worse.
Just two minutes into Tuesday night's game, a brilliant feed from Bard's
Brianna Bean found
Mady Calhoun on the right wing. Her perfect cross into the box was headed in by
Maddy Huggins, and the Raptors had a 1-0 lead over Mount Saint Mary College. At halftime, it was still 1-0.
But the Knights (11-4) struck twice in 41 seconds early in the second half, then twice more in the final six minutes to earn a 4-1 victory in a non-league contest.
Huggins' early goal was holding up, and based on how the first half went, it didn't appear that Mount Saint Mary was going to have an easy time scoring in the second half. Shots at the half were 5-4 in favor of the visitors, and super sophomore Shanice Robe (Valley Stream, NY), who led Div. III in scoring as a freshman, was being bottled up by
Joanna Regan and her friends in back.
Just 120 seconds in to the second half, however, the game was 1-1. Bard keeper
Lily Harris dove to smother a cross into the box, but the ball squirted loose when she hit the ground, and junior Michelle Sabogal (Forest Hills, NY) pounced, knocking it easily home from eight yards away.
Less than a minute later, junior Vanessa DiSilvio (Massapequa, NY) used pressure and aggression to force a turnover in back. She recovered the ball just in time to beat Harris to the near post and a 2-1 lead in the 48th minute.
The game went back and forth from there - shots were 10-9 in favor of the Knights in the second half - but as Bard grew more desperate and pushed forward for the equalizer, more counterattack opportunities arose and Mount Saint Mary cashed in twice. Robe collected a cross from Nicole Gianotti (Massapequa Park, NY) and put it in from close range in the 85th minute, then scored on her own breakaway in the 89th minute to finish the scoring.
Harris finished with three saves for Bard, 4-9-1. Jacquelyn Mancini made six saves for the Knights.
Bard next heads up North to take on Clarkson University on Friday afternoon, then St. Lawrence University on Saturday afternoon, in Liberty League games.
