Fairfield, Conn. – The Le Moyne College women's soccer team lost to Sacred Heart University on Thursday evening at SHU's Park Ave Field by a score of 2-0 in its final game of the 2023 campaign.

The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute when Desiree Crawford slipped a pass between the Le Moyne defense for Morgan Bovardi who hit a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the goal from about eight yards out.

Sacred Heart doubled its lead in the 15^th minute when Victoria Constantine drove a shot into the upper right corner of the Le Moyne goal.

Freshman forward Hope Adigun (Clay, N.Y./Liverpool), sophomore defender Jasmina Barhoumi (Worms, Germany/Nelly-Sachs-IGS/D'Youville), junior forwards Autumn Edwards (Greece, N.Y./Hilton/Monroe) and Sierra Edwards, and junior midfielder/forward Brooke Wilson (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) each recorded a shot on goal for Le Moyne during the loss.

Autumn Edwards registered a game-high and season-best five shots for the 'Phins. The Dolphins recorded four of their shots on goal during the first 45 minutes.

Sacred Heart had the advantage in corner kicks by a tally of 5-4.

Le Moyne graduate goalkeeper Allison Moreau (Sauquoit, N.Y./Sauquoit Valley) tallied eight saves during the match, surpassing 100 total saves in a single season for the second time in her career.

With 107 saves in 2023, Moreau finishes the campaign with the second-most saves among Northeast Conference goalkeepers. Moreau concludes her Le Moyne career with 314 saves.

Bovardi recorded a team-high three shots on goal for the Pioneers.

"A lot of key moments happened very early in the first half. Both teams generated quality chances at the beginning of the game. Credit to Sacred Heart for finishing their chances," said Le Moyne head coach Jaro Zawislan. "Very positive response from our group, especially coming out of halftime. We were able to press higher up the field in the second half. That higher press created quality moments in transition to attack for our team. We just needed to be a little bit better in the final third to score that important first goal to close the gap.

"There were a lot of positives, especially in the second half of the game. We definitely will use those positives to keep moving this program in the right direction. We thank all of the seniors for whom this was the final game of their collegiate careers. The legacy and the foundation that they created will benefit this program for years to come. This year's team has achieved a lot of historic firsts in our program's first-ever season at the Division I level. We are very proud of how our players carried themselves throughout the season and throughout the challenging process of jumping into this NCAA Division I women's soccer environment," Zawislan added.

The Dolphins created a chance in the fifth minute after graduate midfielder Marissa Lisikatos (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane) earned a free kick at the edge of their attacking third.

Barhoumi played a ball into the box off the set piece, and senior defender Danielle Casey (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) got on the other end of it, but her header went just wide of the right post.

In the 16^th minute, Wilson received the ball in the middle of the field, cut to her right and drove a shot towards the upper right corner of the goal that was caught by SHU goalkeeper Elyssa Kipperman.

Wilson won a corner kick for the Dolphins with just under 27 minutes remaining in the first half. Barhoumi delivered a dangerous cross from the left flag that was curling towards the upper right corner of the goal before a leaping Kipperman swatted the ball away from danger and out of bounds for another corner kick.

With just under 14 minutes remaining in the first half, a through ball put Bovardi in on a breakaway towards goal, but Moreau came off her line and made a point-blank save to deny Bovardi her second goal of the match.

Sacred Heart clinched a spot in the NEC Tournament with a win on Thursday.

The Dolphins finish the 2023 season, its first as Division I members of the Northeast Conference, with a 2-12-4 record, and a 1-7-2 resume in the NEC.