Box Score
WAYNE , N.J. (OCTOBER 25, 2006) – The William Paterson women's soccer team (8-6-2, 4-4-1 NJAC) fell to visiting Kean (11-3-2, 5-3-1 NJAC), 3-2 in overtime, in both teams' regular-season finales Oct. 25 in Wayne.
The Pioneers had already secured a bid to the upcoming NJAC Tournament, which will begin with first-round matches Saturday, Oct. 28. Sixth-seeded William Paterson will play at third-seeded Richard Stockton at 4:00 p.m. The winner of that match will play at No. 2 Montclair State Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the semifinal round.
Following a shot with 4:04 to play in the first half, WPU goalkeeper Caitlin Kiernan (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) got her hands on the ball, but defender Natale Buongiorno (Northvale, N.J./Old Tappan) was ruled to have touched the ball with her hand as well, resulting in a red card for her and a penalty kick for the Cougars. Heather Anzivino was well wide of the net on the PK attempt, and the Pioneers were forced to play with 10 for the remainder of the match.
Despite the lack of numbers, WPU was able to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Senior Melissa Boka (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) picked up a deflection 25 yards from goal and dribbled to her left, pulling the Kean keeper out and scoring her 14 th goal of the season for a 1-0 advantage in the 47th minute. Fourteen minutes later, freshman Jessica Reibis (Jackson, N.J./Jackson) received a perfect diagonal ball from sophomore Amanda Kurdyla (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) and buried it from the left side of the box.
The Cougars fought back, as Kayla Duncan one-timed a pass from Anzivino across the penalty area and into the left corner of the goal to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 72nd minute. Anzivino atoned for her earlier miss three minutes later, knocking in a deflection to force overtime. The Cougars won the match in the 96 th minute, taking advantage of a failed clear attempt as Michelle Fischer got the ball in front of the box and found a streaking Amanda Pitts on the right side.
Kiernan, who missed the previous seven matches due to an injury, made eight saves for the Pioneers. Junior Amanda Fabiano (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) also had an excellent defensive play, heading a ball off the line with less than five minutes remaining in the second half.
Prior to the match, WPU honored its four seniors – Boka, Laura Conte (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley), Caitlin Higdon (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) and Aly Salvacion (Lodi, N.J./Lodi).
