By: Marie-Line Petit
Box Score Burnaby, BC - The Simon Fraser University women's soccer team earned their first conference win of the season Thursday night in thrilling fashion, beating the Northwest Nazarene University Crusaders by a score of 2-1.
SFU started the game very aggressively and pressured the Crusaders from the get go.
The Clan had the first scoring opportunity in the first half after a brilliant effort by
Jessica Marano (Burnaby, BC) where she narrowly missed the net, ringing a shot off the post.
The Crusaders took advantage of a Clan miscommunication in the 22nd minute when Kelsey Martin ran past the SFU defence and put the ball in the back of the net to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
Hitting the field in the second half with the same energy and intensity they started the game with, the Clan created many scoring chances which eventually paid off.
SFU capitalized with the game tying goal when Jenna Piovosan (Burnaby, BC) brilliantly crossed the ball in front of the goal and found
Sophie D'Souza (Vancouver, BC) for her second goal of the season.
Marissa Di Lorenzo (Burnaby, BC) played brilliantly out of her position as well, as she created numerous goal scoring opportunities for the Clan and forced NNU goalkeeper's to make several key saves to force the game into overtime.
In overtime the Clan's efforts payed off as freshman
Kate Pearsall (North Vancouver, BC) found the ball near her feet during a scramble in the box and got the golden goal, giving the Clan their first win of the season.
"We all went into this game with lots of energy," said Pearsall. "We focused on getting everyone involved and we worked for each other and I think that was the key to our success."
With the win, the Clan's record moves to 1-8-2 in conference play and 1-10-2 overall.
The Clan will be back in action with their final home game of 2013 against the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Terry Fox Field.
