October 19, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Late lapse costs Chestnut Hill College women
by TOM UTESCHER

CHC’s Jackie Nevius (#3) took the last shot in regulation time. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

With less than three minutes to go in last Monday’s home soccer match, the Chestnut Hill College women were about to claim an important victory over the team ranked just behind them in the North Eastern Athletic Conference.

As time was about to run out on the seventh-ranked Bard College Raptors, the visitors tied the game at 1-1 on a long outside shot, and then struck again 16 minutes into overtime to secure a 2-1 victory. Number six CHC saw its record slip to 5-3-1 in the NEAC and 7-4-2 overall, while Bard improved to 5-3, 7-3-1.

The two teams were evenly matched, and this was reflected in other stats from the game, as CHC enjoyed a 21-19 edge in shots, but Bard had the advantage in corner kicks, 3-1. Griffins goalie Krista Deflaviis recorded ten saves for the day, and Bard’s Elizabeth Herber had 13.

Chestnut Hill’s Meghan Smith got the Griffins on the board with 18:34 remaining in the first half. She carried the ball across the 18 on the left, and Herber charged out to block Smith’s initial shot from just a few feet away. The CHC senior got to the loose ball first, and sent it into the open net.

Later on, DeFlaviis stopped two long-range missles fired by Bard, while attempts by CHC’s Morgan Nichols and Julie Treen went wide and high. From right in front of the Griffins’ goal, Bard’s Joanna Tanger lifted a shot over the crossbar, and the hosts still led 1-0 at the break.

The second half began in the same manner, with the Raptors’ Rose Lee hitting a wide-open shot up over the cage. Bard attacked for a few more minutes, then the hosts took the play to the other end for awhile.

Several times, Chestnut Hill got the ball to speedy forward Jackie Nevius up near the 18, but the Griffins didn’t have anyone else in position to provide support and passing options, and these chances fizzled out as Nevius was double or triple-teamed. Smith, meanwhile, had been deployed elsewhere on the field.

CHC coach Michele Mocarsky explained, “We knew that number two for them [Lee] was a dangerous player and that she was quick. We pushed Megan back to cover her, and she did a good job at it.”

Bard’s Mozhdeh Zahedi caused problems for the hosts, though, and on one of her shots only a leaping save by Deflaviis prevented a goal at the upper left corner. It was a long ball that would eventually beat the CHC keeper; from 35 yards out near the right sideline, Abbie Paris arced a shot into the far side of the net to tie it up for the Raptors with 2:45 on the clock.

CHC’s last shot in regulation time was taken by Nevius and was saved by Herber, and the match proceeded into two ten-minute “golden goal” overtimes. In the first segment the Griffins’ Erin Bagdasarian sent a shot little wide to the left, and at the other end Bard hit a nice corner kick but saw the ball cleared out by CHC’s Becky Howell. In round two, Nichols and Maureen Dugan each had attempts foiled by Herber, and then Bard’s Lee broke through the right side of the box and angled a shot over into the left side of the Chestnut Hill goal, winning the match for the Raptors with 4:12 to go in the second OT.

Addressing her team’s lost scoring chances, Mocarsky said “We’re getting the ball up there and we’re making a quick counterattack, but we’re just not following through.”