FDU Completes Comeback to Beat URTGV in OT

August 22, 2016

EDINBURG, Texas - The Fairleigh Dickinson women's soccer team had to come from behind twice in regulation and Elma Kolenovic (Manhattan, N.Y./NYC Lab) scored inside of the first two minutes of overtime to get the 3-2 win for the Knights over UT-Rio Grande Valley.

Kolenovic scored 1:37 into the extra frame off a pass from Dara Battistoni (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington), which went over the UTRGV backline, that Kolenovic controlled at the top of the box and beat Erica Gonzalez in the UTRGV goal. It was Kolenovic's third of the season.

Head coach Eric Teepe said afterward, "It was good that we got the win, but I do not think we are clicking on all cylinders. We have shown that we have a group that will fight until the end. We need players from last year's team to take charge and Elma certainly did that this weekend."

Fairleigh Dickinson (1-1) trailed 1-0 and 2-1 before tying the game at 1-1 in the 76th minute and at 2-2 in the 84th.

UT-Rio Grande Valley (1-1) got on the board first with a goal from Diandra Aliaga in the 37th minute. The shot came from the right side of the box and was just out of the reach of Knights' goalkeeper, Amanda Fitzgerald (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East).

In the second half, the Knights generated more scoring chances than in the first 45 minutes. Then in the 76th minute, Giselles Perez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) played a corner kick from the left side and the ball found its way to Jackson Bennett (Toronto, Ontario/Humberside Collegiate Institute) who fired through a crowd for her first goal as a collegiate and tie the game at one.

Five minutes later, UTRGV restored its one-goal lead when Aliaga scored her second of the game and season from a free kick at the top of the 18-yard box.

Kolenovic scored the first of her two goals in the 83rd minute with an assist from Jessi Reinhardt (Friedberg, Germany/Burggymansium). Kolenovic corralled the ball in front of the goal off a corner from Reinhardt to tie the game.  

Fairleigh Dickinson had a couple chances late in regulation but a shot from Meghan Griffin (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) was stopped and a corner kick from Reinhardt was cleared.

Fitzgerald made five saves to earn her first win as a collegiate. The Knights outshot the Vaqueros 12-10 overall and 8-7 in shots on goal. The Knights held a 5-0 edge in corner kicks.

Kolenovic and Reinhardt were joined on the UTRGV Invitational All-Tournament Team by Stasi Torchia (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary's)

The Knights return to action on Thursday, August 25th when they travel to Rider for a 7 p.m. kick-off. 

Trending Videos
 
IMG Academy Top 150 Rankings
see full ranking:
Boys Girls