HARRISONBURG, Va. – The William and Mary women's soccer team dropped a hard-fought match to Northeastern in the semifinals of the 2013 Colonial Athletic Association Tournament on Friday night. After a scoreless 110 minutes of action, the contest went into penalty kicks from which Northeastern prevailed for the win, 3-1.
William and Mary jumped to an early lead with a goal in the third minute. Senior Audrey Barry sent a pass into the box that deflected off a defender and landed at the feet of senior Dani Rutter. Rutter uncorked a shot from the right side and scored into the lower left corner. The tally, which was the fourth of the season for Rutter, gave W&M a 1-0.
The Tribe had a pair of chances to extend its lead later in the half. In the 24th minute, Rutter had another good look, but Northeastern goalkeeper Paige Burnett came up with stop. Later in the half, freshman Clara Logsdon put a shot on frame, but once again Burnett was there for the save.
At the break, William and Mary had a 1-0 lead. They outshot the Huskies 5-1, including a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal.
Northeastern made the most of its first opportunity in the second half and tied the match in the 55th minute. Hanna Terry sent a through ball to Haley Sinclair, who scored from the mouth of the goal. The goal tied the match at 1-1.
Just one minute later, the Huskies took their first lead of the match. Krista Meaglia sent a pass to Terry. Terry, who was on a breakaway, sent the ball into the far right corner of the goal. The tally put Northeastern on top, 2-1.
William and Mary found the equalizer in the 57th minute. As the ball bounced freely in front of the of the goalie box, junior Anna Madden collected it. From the top of the box, she fired a shot into the upper left corner of the goal. The tally, which was the second goal of the season for Madden, knotted the score 2-2.
The Tribe had two chances retake the lead on a pair of corner kicks that were cleared off of the goal line by two Northeastern defenders. Rutter sent in a corner that connected with Logsdon. Logsdon's header shot was stopped by Burnett. On the ensuing corner, Rutter found Madden, whose shot was also cleared off of the goal line.
At the end of regulation the match remained a 2-2 tie, and the game went to overtime. William and Mary was outshooting 13-4, including a 8-3 advantage in shots on goal after a full 90 minutes.
After a pretty quiet first overtime, the match opened up a bit in the second overtime stanza. Each team had a couple of chances, but neither team scored. With the match still knotted at 2-2, it went to penalty kicks. Northeastern was able to best the Tribe, 3-1, in the PK round.
The Tribe's finish the conference tournament with a 8-2-7 record overall. The mark continues the Tribe's NCAA record streak of 33-consecutive winning seasons.
For all updates on Tribe women's soccer stay tuned to TribeAthletics.com.
