Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's soccer team earned a huge victory over a top 25 nationally-ranked opponent on Tuesday, coming back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to claim a 3-1 NE10 Conference victory on Ted Grant Field over #25 Franklin Pierce University Ravens to earn three points in the conference standings.

The Ravens were in control during the first 20 minutes of the game and broke the tie at the 19:27 mark with a goal from Delaney Farinha.

In many instances this season the Dolphins have shown great poise when facing a deficit, and Tuesday was no different. Le Moyne got more comfortable and held more of the ball as the first half continued, and the Dolphins outplayed the Ravens in the second half, outscoring the visitors 3-0 during the final 45 minutes.

Senior defender Reagan Sames (Rexford, N.Y./Shenendehowa) scored her first goal of the season, freshman Payton Khadra (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island) scored her first career goal as a Dolphin, and sophomore defender Hildur Unnarsdóttir (Kópavogur, Iceland/Commercial College of Iceland) put away her team-leading fourth goal of the 2022 campaign on a penalty kick to give the Dolphins a two-goal lead.

Prior to Tuesday's win, the Le Moyne College women's soccer program's most recent victory over a top 25 ranked opponent also came against Franklin Pierce University in 2011 when the Dolphins traveled to Rindge, New Hampshire and recorded a 2-0 win against the #16 FPU Ravens.

"Definitely a very important win for the program, not only this season but moving forward as well. It's one of those signature results, playing a nationally ranked opponent, a team that is arguably the best in the NE10 Conference this year. Our team had to really step up in every part of the game to be able to match their quality. The first 15 minutes we had to absorb a lot of pressure. But as the game progressed, we found some balance and began to produce some spells of possession. Unfortunately, we gave up the goal in transition. We were glad to see our team respond well and gain some momentum at the end of the first half, and that carried into the second half. Well-executed set pieces played a part in it, but also the team was very disciplined and organized defensively. We minimized the opponent's opportunities and today we were able to capitalize on the chances in our attacking third of the field. We're very proud of the players, and very happy for the players because their hard work is showing now in the form of a quality result against a very good, quality Franklin Pierce team, which is one of the best teams not only in the Northeast-10 Conference but one of the top teams in the country," said Le Moyne Interim Head Coach Jaro Zawislan after the game.

Sames, who has now played the full 90 minutes in three consecutive games for the Dolphins, was credited with her first career assist along with scoring her second career goal during the massive Le Moyne victory.

"It just took a lot of teamwork. Obviously, this season we've had some ups and downs, and we were just missing that last piece in our offensive third and I feel like today was just a great team win from the defense to the forwards we just connected passes and we had grit…. I'm just really proud of the result; coming down from one goal and scoring three to win the game is a great accomplishment for this team," said senior defender Reagan Sames after the game. "We played for each other, and it really showed on the field today." Sames added.

The Ravens went on a quick counterattack In the 19^th minute when FPU's Jasmine Perez-Acosta sent a pass from the middle of the field towards the left corner flag, where Eleonora Franco tracked down the ball just before it rolled past the left touchline and sent a cross into the box with her left foot. Franco's cross was hit perfectly between two Le Moyne defenders right on the forehead of Delaney Farinha who placed her header well from the penalty kick spot into the bottom left corner of the net, past the diving Allison Moreau (Sauquoit, N.Y./Sauquoit Valley) to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead in the first half.

The Dolphins created their best chance of the first half during the 29^th minute following an Unnarsdóttir free kick from the right side of the field. The ball was cleared away by FPU to the left sideline where freshman winger Lindsey LeBlanc (Westminster, Mass./St. Bernard's) tracked the ball down for the Dolphins and sent a pass to graduate midfielder Marissa Lisikatos (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane) who was standing in the left-center portion of the field at the edge of Le Moyne's attacking third.

With two defenders coming at her Lisikatos delivered a great pass straight ahead of her towards the goal line for Brooke Wilson (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) who made a curved run into the left side of the box. 

Wilson took a touch towards the goal frame before sending a cross on the ground towards the middle of the goal mouth where Avery Maxam (Clinton, N.Y./Clinton) made a run to the edge of the six-yard box with a defender right on her. Maxam was somehow able to redirect the hard-hit cross on goal, but FPU goalkeeper Emilie Fox went to ground and made the save to keep the Dolphins scoreless.

The Dolphins started the second half strong and immediately began putting pressure on the Ravens defense in search of an equalizer.

Following a long Katelyn Courcy (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) throw in from the right sideline less than two minutes into the second half, the Dolphins were awarded their first corner kick of the half.

Unnarsdóttir jogged to the right corner flag, placed the ball down and took a few steps back, prepared to send her cross in. Her cross was sent into the middle of the box, a yard away from the goal line. FPU goalkeeper Gabby Calidonio, who entered the game at the beginning of the second half after Emilie Fox played the first 45 minutes in goal for the Ravens, tried to catch the cross, but Lara Lobe (Trebnje, Slovenia/Gymnasium Novo mesto) was standing in front of the keeper and caused her to drop the ball right on the goal line where Sames knocked it into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

Le Moyne earned their second corner kick of the second half in the 65^th minute following an attacking sequence that was initiated by Maxam, who played a great ball while on the run into the left side of the penalty area in the path of Wilson, who was thwarted by two FPU defenders but persisted on the play to get a corner kick for the Dolphins.

Unnarsdóttir jogged to the left corner flag this time, and Sames once again traveled from Le Moyne's defensive half to the FPU penalty area. This cross from Unnarsdóttir was sent high in the air, and the ball flew to the middle of the 18-yard box. Three FPU defenders converged just outside the six-yard box, all trying to head the ball away, but it was Sames that made contact on her header attempt, and she put a shot on target low in the middle of the goal frame.

Calidonio quickly reacted to block Sames' header, but Khadra, who was standing right in front of Calidonio, jumped on the rebound and hit the ball past the goal line into the bottom right corner of the net to give the 'Phins a 2-1 lead with just over 24 minutes remaining in the game.

Having seized all the momentum in the match, the Dolphins were given another corner kick less than 90 seconds after their go-ahead goal when an Unnarsdóttir long free kick was headed away by the Ravens defense beyond the goal line.

The Ravens never quite looked comfortable defending set pieces from within their own defensive third, and the Dolphins smelled blood in the water.

Unnarsdóttir sent another cross high in the air, and as the ball reached its peak both Sames and Lainey Foti (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) were knocked down in the box, and the referee awarded the Dolphins a penalty kick.

Unnarsdóttir took the PK for Le Moyne and placed her shot into the bottom left corner of the net to give the 'Phins a 3-1 lead over the number 25 ranked Ravens.

The Le Moyne back line, which consisted of Unnarsdóttir on the right, Sames and Courcy in the middle and Lobe on the left held strong during the final 20 minutes of the game and only allowed one shot on goal after going up 3-1.

Freshman Jadyn Kantak (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) made her second consecutive start during the game, providing the Dolphins with 58 valuable minutes at the left back position.

Moreau made seven saves during the 90 minutes to help the Dolphins earn three points in the NE10 standings and improve to 3-4-2 on the year.

While the previously 2-4-2 Dolphins taking down a team that is ranked third in the East Region might be a surprise to some, this was a win that the team has been building towards. The Dolphins have shown their ability to go toe-to-toe with top teams in the country: They played Southern New Hampshire tightly at home before the Penmen broke the game open towards the end, and they were two seconds away from recording a 1-1 tie on the road against #8 College of Saint Rose before the Golden Knights came up with a go-ahead goal.

The Dolphins had played better than what their conference recorded suggested, and on Tuesday Le Moyne was able to show off the steady improvements that they have made throughout the season, along with their ability to compete with anyone in the conference.

The Le Moyne College women's soccer team has now collected four points in the NE10 standings, and they will be back in action on Saturday, October 1, when they travel to West Haven, Connecticut to take on the University of New Haven Chargers at 1:00 p.m.