Albany, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's soccer team nearly came away with a 1-1 draw on the road against #11 College of Saint Rose on Wednesday evening, but the Golden Knights were able to produce the go-ahead goal in the final second of the match to claim a 2-1 conference victory over the Dolphins.

After the Dolphins conceded in the 12^th minute, Le Moyne freshman midfielder Hermine Hognerud (Oslo, Norway/Eikeli Videregående Skole) scored the first goal of her collegiate career in the second half to tie the game. The goal was set up by fellow first-year player Payton Khadra (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island), who recorded her first career assist on the play.

Le Moyne goalkeeper Allison Moreau (Sauquoit, N.Y./Sauquoit Valley) made eight saves during the defeat, which is one less than her season-high total of nine saves that she compiled during the team's 0-0 draw at Daemen.

Less than 10 minutes into the game Saint Rose forward Madelyn Wania served a cross into the crowded Le Moyne penalty area from the right wing. The ball bounced around the middle of the box and fell to the feet of Golden Knights senior defender Sanna Rein, who was standing in front of the center of the goal frame about two yards from the goal line. Rein got her shot off from point-blank range, but a tremendous reaction save from Moreau, who dove to her right and deflected the shot away from goal, somehow kept the Golden Knights off the scoreboard.

Following a Le Moyne throw in near the left corner flag in their attacking third, the Golden Knights won back possession and went on a quick counterattack. Graduate forward Kaelyn Britt dribbled the ball with pace from the edge of her team's penalty area all the way to midfield before sending a pass ahead to Janina Mueller.

A quick first touch from Mueller got her past the initial Le Moyne defender and as the help defender came towards her Mueller cut to her right at the top of the 18-yard box and ripped a rocket across her body with her right foot that skipped past a diving Moreau and into the left side of the net to put the Golden Knights up 1-0.

In the 23^rd minute graduate midfielder Marissa Lisikatos (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane) sent a nice pass into space down the right wing for the freshman winger Khadra who tracked down the ball, dribbled diagonally towards goal, faced up her defender and took a shot with her right foot from a few yards outside of the 18-yard box. Khadra's shot sped towards the goal line and clanged the top right corner of the goal frame, where the post meets the crossbar, and the ball bounced back out to the edge of the penalty area before a Saint Rose defender cleared it away.

Mueller once again got on the ball in the left side of the Le Moyne penalty area and was able to put a shot on goal with 17:52 remaining in the first half, but Moreau stopped the shot and scooped the ball up. The senior goalkeeper recorded six saves during the first 45 minutes to prevent the Golden Knights from extending their lead.

With just under 16 minutes remaining in the first half, Le Moyne redshirt sophomore midfielder Magda Aspholm (Östersund, Sweden/Jämtlands Gymnasium Wargentin) got a touch on the ball inside the Saint Rose penalty area following a Le Moyne corner kick that was taken by sophomore outside defender Hildur Unnarsdóttir (Kópavogur, Iceland/Commercial College of Iceland), but a crowd of Golden Knight defenders were able to clear the ball away for another Le Moyne corner kick. On the ensuing kick from the opposite corner flag, senior defender Reagan Sames (Rexford, N.Y./Shenendehowa) got a head on the cross, but her shot bounced well wide of the left post. Sames made her first start of the season on Wednesday and played the full 90 minutes at center back for the Dolphins.

In the 31^st minute Mueller slipped a great pass to freshman forward Reilley Turowski, who made a well-timed crescent run towards goal that appeared to put her in on a breakaway. Le Moyne redshirt sophomore defender Rylee Alston (Endwell, N.Y./Maine-Endwell) flew into the picture from the left side of Le Moyne's defensive third to make a great recovery and prevent the initial shot.

After the Saint Rose attacker cut to her right, Sames had re-entered the play and knocked the ball away, then successfully defended the final attempt by the Golden Knights on the play which rolled out of bounds for a goal kick.

With six minutes remaining in the first half sophomore Brooke Wilson (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton), who played the full 90 minutes as an attacker for the Dolphins, dribbled with pace into Le Moyne's attacking third with a defender in close pursuit. While on the move Wilson nearly slipped a beautiful-looking ball into space for Lainey Foti (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) who made a run towards the middle-right portion of the penalty area. Foti might have been in on goal if not for Saint Rose midfielder Sabrina Mazza who sprinted back hard and was able to knock Wilson's pass off its trajectory and out of bounds for a Le Moyne corner kick

About 10 minutes into the second half Wilson won a corner kick for the Dolphins, and Unnarsdóttir sent a cross into the box. Sames was able to rise above the crowd and head the ball towards the goal line, but her shot flew just above the crossbar and out of bounds.

In the 63^rd minute Wilson got the ball at midfield, evaded a lunging defender and sent a pass ahead to Khadra. Khadra chased after the ball, but the pass was hit too far and there were two Saint Rose defenders, along with the goalie, between her and the goal.

The ball was rolling towards the penalty area as the Saint Rose goalkeeper came off her line, briefing leaving the 18-yard box and entering an area where she can only use her feet. Her clearance attempt was mishit right back at the two Saint Rose defenders, and the four players converged at the edge of the penalty area, fighting for possession.

Khadra, the only Le Moyne player in the scrum, came away with the ball and dropped off a pass to Hognerud. As the Saint Rose goalkeeper scrambled back towards the goal line, Hognerud hit the ball one-time with her right foot into the back of the empty net to score the first goal of her Le Moyne career and tie the game at 1-1.

After conceding the equalizing goal, the team that was recently demoted to #2 in the East Region Poll went on the offensive, uninterested in recording their third consecutive tie against an NE10 opponent.

The Golden Knights were able to come away with a victory over Franklin Pierce on September 10 to begin conference play this season, but since then they have recorded back-to-back 0-0 draws which dropped them to #11 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches National Top 25 Poll.

Following Hognerud's goal Saint Rose worked tirelessly to come up with the go-ahead goal to achieve their second conference victory of the season and get back on top of the NE10 standings.

The Dolphins defended ferociously during the final few minutes of the match, hoping to grind out a positive result and claim a point in the conference standings against a team that was ranked #2 in the entire country just two days ago.

With 22 second remaining the ball was crossed into the Le Moyne penalty area from the left side, and the Dolphins defense did well to head it away from danger. The ball rolled to the right corner and out of bounds for a Saint Rose throw in. With 12 seconds on the clock the ball was thrown to the right side of the Le Moyne penalty area and kicked into the middle of the box. Britt got a head on the ball, and it was knocked away to the left side of the penalty area where senior Jen Bartlett hit the ball into the back of the net with two seconds remaining on the clock, giving the Golden Knights the go-ahead goal that they've been searching for and dealing the Dolphins a heartbreaking setback.

The Le Moyne College women's soccer team will play another Northeast-10 Conference away game on Saturday, September 24 at 3:00 p.m. at Saint Michael's College.