Long Island men defeat Bryant

Brooklyn, N.Y.- Sophomore Jessica Roelant (Flemington, N.J.) scored a first half header to lift the Long Island University's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Bryant on Friday night at LIU Field. The goal helped LIU claim its third straight shutout win and keep its hopes alive for a spot in the Northeast Conference tournament.

Long Island opened the game aggressively on offense and had its first quality opportunity in the 10th minute when junior Kayleigh Morgan (Harlow, England) got free along the right wing and put a shot on net before a diving Katie Mitchell turned the ball away for Bryant for one of her three saves. Three minutes later the Bulldogs had their first chance of the night when Sarah Donovan took a free kick from 25 yards out, but her shot sailed high.

The Blackbirds broke the deadlock in the 39th minute when junior Caitlin Meadows (Brookdale, Calif.) sent a long pass ahead to freshman Katie Egan (Hanover, Mass.) along the right side. Egan collected the ball and lobbed a cross into a crowd in front of the net where Roelant was able to nod the ball into an unguarded net for a 1-0 lead.

The second half saw Bryant outshoot LIU, 4-2, but several of the shots were from long-range and never seriously threatened the Blackbirds’ defense. Freshman Jennifer Bannon (East Greenwich, R.I.) made three saves in the half and finished the game with five total to earn the shutout. It was LIU’s eighth shutout of the season.

Bryant ended the game with a slim 8-6 advantage in shots, while LIU had three corner kicks to two for Bryant.

The Blackbirds finish the regular season with a 9-7-1 mark overall and 5-4-1 in conference play. LIU is currently in fourth place in the league standings, but must await Sunday’s results in the final day of league matches to determine if it will move onto the NEC Tournament.