Syracuse, N.Y. – In their 2023 home opener, the Le Moyne women's soccer team recorded a 1-1 draw against the University of Rhode Island Rams on Sunday at Ted Grant Field.

The Rams took an early 1-0 lead following a corner kick in the second minute, but the Dolphins battled to maintain the one-goal deficit through the first 45 minutes, and then found the equalizing goal in the second half on a nice move in the box from redshirt-junior midfielder/defender Danielle Casey (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) that led to a rebound goal for junior forward Sierra Edwards (Greece, N.Y./Hilton/Monroe).

"There was a lot going on [during the scoring play]," said Edwards after the game. "Dani (Casey) did most of the work, she put the shot on goal, I just got the rebound. It feels really nice to get that first goal [as a Dolphin], but it was definitely a team goal. I'm happy we were able to get the tying goal," Edwards added.

Le Moyne graduate goalkeeper Allison Moreau (Sauquoit, N.Y./Sauquoit) made seven saves during the 'Phins first home game as a Division I program.

"I think we did a really good job today connecting the pieces together that we were missing before," said Moreau after the game. "Offensively, we got Dani up there as a target [on the free kick to tie it] and she did great. We always strive for a win, but a tie, coming back from being down 1-0 in the second half, that's a step forward… I really think our biggest strength is that we're the underdog every single time going into the games. Other teams look at us being new to DI and I think we can use that to our advantage, and they're not going to expect us to come out the way we do…The environment today was amazing. We want to thank everyone for coming out and being loud," Moreau continued.

Sunday's match was the second time this season that the Dolphins have erased an early deficit to produce a positive result (the other being a 3-2 comeback victory at Niagara a week prior).

"[Today was a] very positive result. We never play for ties, we always step on the field and go after a positive result, and preferably it would be a win, but when you come back late from a 1-0 deficit to tie the game with tremendous effort and focus by the group on the field, that's as close as it gets to a win, that comeback tie," said Le Moyne head coach Jaro Zawislan. "For the team, it was the very first home Division I soccer game in the history of the program, so definitely there was a different feel to it. We as a whole team, coaching staff and players, were very focused on the game itself, but it was not lost on anybody that it was a historic event and a historic moment. We did not start the game the way we wanted to, it was very uncharacteristic of us to give up a goal off a set piece. We've been a pretty good team at defending set pieces this year. However, it shows great character by the team, the players, this program to keep playing through it. A lot of teams could give up, when you go quickly from the high emotions at kickoff then all of a sudden you're facing a 1-0 deficit within the first 120 seconds of the game.  The players kept focusing on the next play. There were a lot of momentum shifts in this game. Rhode Island is a quality team. The type of opposition they've played leading up to this game were quality teams. It's very hard to score on (Rhode Island), they haven't given up many goals. They've kept a couple shutouts that ended in ties, and a couple close losses to quality teams, like Providence for example. So, yes, we do want to win every single game. That's the plan, we go out there to compete and get the result. (We showed) tremendous growth through the game. Beginning of the second half, we collapsed defensively a little bit too much, gave them a little too much space and time. With some adjustments, pushing the line a little bit higher and pressing a little bit better, we shifted the momentum. There is that saying, your opponent plays as well as you allow them to play, meaning if you give them time and space, we are going to make them look very good. And again, credit to Rhode Island, they used the time and space that they had, and they shifted momentum. But when we took away a little bit of that time and space from them and pressed more, we created opportunities in transition to attack. The goal resulted from one of those transitions to attack, with a foul being drawn, and a well-executed set piece. That put us in a good position to get a positive result out of the game… That was a good, quality college soccer game," Zawislan added.

"There is definitely not much margin for error on any part of the field when you play NCAA Division I women's soccer games," said Zawislan after the match. "The level, the athleticism and technical ability and tactical acumen of opposing players is very good. Our whole team, and our back four and Marissa (Lisikatos) as a holding midfielder have shown that they can match up against this level of opposition, not only individually but – very important – collectively, keeping the proper team shape. They help each other to neutralize some of the advantages of the opposing attacking players, that's where the collective defending works very well. Yes, we do have athleticism, we have good enough soccer players to match up with other teams, but it's very important as a whole team that we do a good job of collective group team defending."

A Rhode Island cross was deflected out of bounds for a corner kick less than 1:30 into the contest. URI played a short corner to sophomore defender Erin Hopewell, who sent a cross into the Le Moyne penalty area. Rhode Island senior midfielder Tess O'Connell was on the receiving end of the pass and placed her header perfectly into the left side of the net to give the Rams an early 1-0.

The goal was the first of the year for the Rams, who had recorded two 0-0 draws and three 1-0 losses coming into Sunday's match against the Dolphins.

In the minutes following the goal, the Dolphins moved the ball into their attacking third on several occasions and created some promising attacking opportunities, but they were unable to put a shot on goal during the first half.

With just under six minutes remaining in the first half, following a Le Moyne corner kick, graduate midfielder Marissa Lisikatos (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane) won the ball at midfield and sent a pass down the right wing for sophomore defender Jasmina Barhoumi (Worms, Germany/Nelly-Sachs-IGS/D'Youville). Barhoumi took a touch towards the endline then sent a cross in the air towards the edge of the six-yard box for sophomore midfielder Hermine Hognerud (Oslo, Norway Eikeli Videregående Skole). Hognerud nearly connected on her header attempt, but the two URI defenders marking her were able to clear the ball away.

In the 53^rd minute, sophomore midfielder/defender Lindsey LeBlanc (Westminster, Mass./St. Bernard's) stole the ball at midfield and raced up the left sideline. She held off a defender on her back, then made a move past an oncoming Ram. LeBlanc dribbled into the left side of the URI penalty area, but the Rhode Island defender recovered and made a successful sliding tackle to knock the ball out of bounds for a corner kick and end the attacking threat.

With just over 23 minutes remaining in the game, sophomore midfielder Jadyn Kantak (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) drew a foul for the Dolphins at the edge of their attacking third.

Barhoumi took the free kick for Le Moyne and a sent a pass that skipped towards the edge of the six-yard box near the left post. Casey made a run in the box and nearly corralled the ball in front of goal, but she was knocked to the ground by a defender. No foul was called, and the ball went out of bounds for a goal kick.

In the 72^nd minute, Rhode Island freshman forward Lauren MacDonald received a through ball in the right side of the box, and she was able to put a low shot on goal, but Moreau came up with the save.

With just under 16 minutes remaining in the second half, Le Moyne freshman forward Hope Adigun (Clay, N.Y./Liverpool), who made her first career start during the contest, dribbled across midfield and drew a foul in Le Moyne's attacking half.

Barhoumi took the free kick for Le Moyne and sent a pass in the air to the right wing for Casey. With her first touch, inside the right side of the penalty area, Casey skillfully brought down the bouncing ball and cut to her left, evading the initial Rhode Island defender. With another defending oncoming, Casey lined up a shot on her right foot and drove the ball on goal to the right of the Rhode Island goalkeeper. URI senior keeper Faith Hutchings dove to her right and blocked Casey's shot with her right hand, but the ball ricocheted quickly towards Sierra Edwards, who swiftly poked it into the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1.

The goal was Edwards' first as a Dolphin, as well as Casey's first career assist.

"I've been looking forward to this home game since I committed here," said Edwards. "Playing at home is always fun. I think we played very well. We've definitely improved since our first game, we're just getting better and better. I think we did good with being able to pass the ball, have some movement and use our attack a little bit more, which was helpful."

Moreau made her final save of the game with 35 seconds remaining in the second half on a floating shot from a URI attacker.
 
The Dolphins currently hold a 1-3-1 record, and they will play another non-conference home game on Friday, September 8 against Robert Morris University.