Niagara University, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's soccer team scored three unanswered goals to claw back from a two-goal deficit and claim a 3-2 win at Niagara University on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action.

Senior midfielder Jenicah Brown (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland/Cazenovia) provided a goal and an assist for the Dolphins, while sophomore midfielder Hermine Hognerud (Oslo, Norway Eikeli Videregående Skole) put away the game-winning goal with under two minutes remaining in the second half.

"We have seen the progress of our team from game to game, and really from training session to the next training session, every day," said Le Moyne head coach Jaro Zawislan. "We had to earn today's result, and the players showed tremendous character coming back from a two-goal deficit, finishing the first half with two very-well executed plays, and then scoring a very late goal (in the second half). Soccer can be a very cruel game, like it was on Thursday when we gave up a goal with 17 seconds left, and soccer was a beautiful game for us today when we scored inside the last two minutes. Everything that our players got out of every game including today's historic result was earned by every player in this program. Tremendous character, focus, work ethic and execution on both sides of the ball put us in position at the end of the game, not only to get a positive result in the form of a tie on the road, but to get a win," Zawislan continued.

The Niagara Purple Eagles struck first in the sixth minute of the game when senior forward Amanda Cripps tracked down a long pass and sent a cross from the left side of Le Moyne's penalty area to the far post where freshman forward Isabella Mazzaferro headed the ball into the net.

The Dolphins nearly tied the game in the 14^th minute when graduate midfielder Marissa Lisikatos (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane) ran onto a back pass from freshman forward Sofia Sanzo (Niskayuna, N.Y./Colonie) and ripped a one-time shot with her right foot about 25 yards away from goal that struck the crossbar and bounced back onto the field of play where Niagara goalkeeper Felicia Grufman scooped up the ball.

The Purple Eagles doubled their lead in the 33^rd minute when Cripps received a pass in the left side of Le Moyne's penalty area, moved towards the goal line, then sent a cross in the air to the right side of the box where Mazzaferro headed the ball back towards the left post. Niagara sophomore midfielder Katie Diem got on the end of Mazzaferro's header and knocked the ball into the net from inside the six-yard box.

"…they got another one (in the first half), but we're still in the game, we always feel like we are still in the game," said Zawislan.

In the 40^th minute, Le Moyne freshman forward Hope Adigun (Clay, N.Y./Liverpool) drew a foul at the edge of Le Moyne's attacking third, leading to a set-piece opportunity for the 'Phins. Sophomore defender Jasmina Barhoumi (Worms, Germany/Nelly-Sach-IGS/D'Youville) sent a long pass into Niagara's penalty area, and Brown deposited a rebound opportunity into the back of the net to register the team's first goal of the season and cut their deficit in half.

The Dolphins seized momentum and found the equalizing goal with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half. With 33 seconds on the clock, Le Moyne's pressure forced a Niagara giveaway within the Purple Eagles' defensive third. Le Moyne sophomore midfielder Lindsey LeBlanc (Westminster, Mass./St. Bernard's) intercepted a pass near the right sideline and got the ball to sophomore midfielder Hermine Hognerud (Oslo, Norway Eikeli Videregående Skole) in the middle of Le Moyne's attacking third. With a defender on her back, Hognerud turned towards her left and found Brown on the right wing. Brown took two dribbles towards the goal line then sent a pinpoint aerial pass across the box to the far post where junior forward Autumn Edwards (Greece, N.Y./Hilton/Monroe) skillfully knocked the ball out of the air with her right foot past the Niagara goalkeeper and into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2.

Le Moyne graduate goalkeeper Allison Moreau (Sauquoit, N.Y./Sauquoit Valley) kept the game tied with a great diving save in the 64^th minute. The Purple Eagles went on a quick counterattack, and a through ball was played to Cripps towards the right side of the penalty area. Cripps got to the ball just as it rolled into Le Moyne's 18-yard box, and her first touch was a hard right-footed shot on the ground aimed across the goal mouth towards the left post. Cripps' shot was on target, but Moreau quickly dove towards her right and knocked the ball away from goal.

Moreau tallied her fourth save of the second half with 18:35 remaining. Cripps received the ball in the middle-right portion of Niagara's attacking third, then turned towards her left and drove a shot from outside the 18-yard box towards the upper right corner of the goal. Moreau moved towards her left and punched the ball well over the crossbar and out of bounds for a corner kick.

With under two minutes remaining in the game, Lisikatos dribbled up the left side of the field, then sent a pass to Brown near the left sideline. Brown quickly sent a pass to LeBlanc, who made a run towards the goal line. LeBlanc then sent a pass on the ground to Hognerud in the left side of the penalty area. From just outside the six-yard box, Hognerud faced up her defender, faked right then made a quick move to her left. Hognerud beat her defender then poked a right-footed shot with the outside of her cleat past the oncoming Niagara goalkeeper and into the right side of the net to give Le Moyne a 3-2 lead.

"We were under some pressure with a lot of corner kicks [in the second half]," said Zawislan. "Like they say, you bend but you don't break. We withstood the pressure and found a couple of good possessions at the end of the game. The scoring sequence was very-well executed, and this time around we were celebrating at the end of the game, which was great to see that the players got rewarded for not just their effort but their improvement from game to game."

The Dolphins prevented the Purple Eagles from taking a shot during the final 1:30 to secure their first victory of the 2023 campaign, and the program's first win at the Division I level.

On the program earning its first win of Le Moyne's Division I era, Zawislan added, "Congratulations to everyone associated with the women's soccer program within the athletic department at Le Moyne College. We greatly appreciate the leadership of President LeMura and Athletic Director Bob Beretta who drove the reclassification process and provided the opportunity for the student-athletes to earn and experience the moments like today, which was a very special moment for the student-athletes in our program, and the athletic department as a whole. We are going to enjoy this result tonight, but tomorrow our focus is back on our next opponent, a quality opponent in Binghamton on Thursday."

Le Moyne (1-2) will return to action on Thursday, August 31 when they travel to Vestal, New York to take on the Binghamton University Bearcats.