Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's soccer team endured their first defeat of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling to #24 Southern New Hampshire University on Ted Grant Field by a score of 3-0 during the teams' first NE10 Conference game of the 2022 campaign.

The Penmen broke the tie in the 18^th minute of the match when freshman midfielder Imogen Noon received a pass on the right wing and sent a ball into the Le Moyne penalty area that Nida Orloff knocked into the back of the net.

"Definitely not the result that we strive for. When we finish the game, we don't want to question our work rate throughout the game. We haven't had to do that this season and again today our players left everything on the field. That is a must and a given in this program – when you step in, not only do you do your best, you leave everything on the field," said Le Moyne Interim Head Coach Jaro Zawislan.

"The other parts - focus, execution – on the defensive side of things, in the first half we stayed in a proper defensive team shape, which was positive. We minimized opportunities for the other team and we were tough to break down defensively. They got a few opportunities, but even their first goal was a preventable sequence. There were positives, not the result that we wanted, especially at halftime being one goal behind, but we gave a great defensive effort and held our shape under pressure. We have to get better in possession, we had very few good attacking sequences in possession. Many times, it came down to having the proper recognition of where there is space to attack, and a few times it came down to the technical execution, so we'll have to keep improving on it. The second half was much better in regards to possession. Defensively, we were still very solid and then we started creating attacking sequences that were shifting the momentum of the game a little bit. Even though we were down 1-0, we felt with every passing minute and rotation that we had in the second half, we were going to create those opportunities to tie the game up. But as it happens in soccer, when you start pushing numbers up the field it makes it easier for the opponent to find space and create goal scoring opportunities in transition. Eventually the second and third goals came in. We're not going to let this result define us. We have a quick turnaround to the next game. Tomorrow we are going focus on ourselves, watch video of today's game and focus on the things that we need to improve. And then on Monday we will focus on Tuesday's game against American International," added Coach Zawislan.

Besides conceding in the 18^th minute, the Le Moyne lineup held its shape well during the first 75 minutes and did not allow the Penmen very many legitimate goal scoring opportunities. As the Dolphins were pressing for the equalizer later in the game, the Penmen took advantage and scored in the 78^th minute, and again in the 84^th minute to put the game out of reach.

Le Moyne put up a good fight against the #3 ranked team in the East Region and the #24 ranked team in the country, and had promising moments in their offensive third during the second half against a SNHU team that has yet to concede a goal through three games.

With just under 28 minutes remaining in the match, with the score still at 1-0, Le Moyne redshirt sophomore center attacking midfielder Danielle Casey (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) made a long run down the left wing with the ball at her feet, and after she got past the SNHU outside back she cut in towards goal. As soon as she entered the penalty area she hit a cross into the middle of the box with her left foot, but SNHU graduate goalkeeper Hannah Rose was off her line and caught the cross, preventing Le Moyne's Marissa Lisikatos (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane) and Payton Khadra (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island), who had made runs to the back post, from knocking in Casey's pass.

In the 65^th minute Le Moyne's right back Brooke Wilson (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) sent a long pass into the 'Phins attacking third. Avery Maxam (Clinton, N.Y./Clinton) chased the ball down and put pressure on the SNHU outside back, who knocked the ball out of bounds past the goal line, awarding the Dolphins a corner kick.

Hildur Unnarsdóttir (Kópavogur, Iceland/Commercial College of Iceland) took the corner kick for Le Moyne from the right flag, and she sent her cross into the middle of the box. Casey rose high in the air with a defender right on her and was able to get a head on the cross, but the ball bounced well wide of the net for a goal kick.

With 22 minutes remaining the Dolphins were pushed forward, looking to tie the game. Following a Le Moyne free kick, the Penmen went on a quick counterattack. The ball was hit ahead to graduate forward Anne Sikkema, who made a diagonal run into the left side of Le Moyne's defensive third.

Sikkema had gotten in behind the right side of Le Moyne's defense, but center back Katelyn Courcy (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) sprinted over and prevented Sikkema from going straight to goal. Courcy did extremely well to get to the ball first, kick it towards the sideline and then maintain possession for Le Moyne by passing the ball to the feet of Wilson.

Le Moyne's back four of Unnarsdóttir, Courcy, Wilson, and redshirt sophomore Rylee Alston (Endwell, N.Y./Maine-Endwell) each played the full 90 minutes on Saturday and performed admirably against a dynamic SNHU offense.

The score was 1-0 in favor of the Penmen with just over 17 minutes remaining in the second half when Le Moyne freshman midfielder Lindsey LeBlanc (Westminster, Mass./St. Bernard's) intercepted an errant Southern New Hampshire pass in the Penmen's defensive third.

LeBlanc dribbled the ball into the left side of the SNHU penalty area, but Southern New Hampshire senior defender and captain Alyssa McCarthy made a great defensive stand and closed down LeBlanc before she could get a shot off.

In the 86th minute of the match, Brooke Wilson, who played every minute of the game on a very hot Saturday afternoon, was still sprinting full speed and putting pressure on the SNHU defense as they held possession in their own half. Wilson's hustle and effort caused a SNHU turnover in Le Moyne's attacking third. The sophomore defender/midfielder won possession, drew a foul and earned her team a free kick about 30 yards from goal.
 
Unnarsdóttir took the set piece for Le Moyne, and sent her kick towards the middle of the 18-yard box. Maxam made a run in the box towards goal, and she was inches away from contacting the ball with her forehead when Rose came hard off her line and caught the ball at the edge of the six-yard box.

The Le Moyne College women's soccer team is now 2-1-1 on the season. They will play another Northeast-10 Conference match at home against American International College on Tuesday, September 13 at 4:00 p.m.