BALTIMORE, Md. – SUNY Geneseo first-year forward Leah Greene scored two goals as the No. 19 Knights overcome an early three-goal deficit to play Frostburg State (Md.) to a 3-3 draw and advance on penalty kicks, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA D-III Women's Soccer Tournament, Saturday night at Johns Hopkins' Homewood Field.
"Despite being down early, I never became too concerned because it was so early in the game and we had nothing but time in front of us to do something about it. Our first score was really nice and I think that really helped our energy," said head coach Nate Wiley. "I thought we carried play quite a bit after the first twenty minutes and being down by only one goal at halftime allowed us to sort things out defensively. We've got the players that will take risks and get rewarded from it."
In the fifth minute, Bobcats' junior midfielder Erin Worthman scored from 10 yards out after taking a through ball from the right side of the field by junior midfielder Brooke Longo. Longo handed out her second assist of the match just over two minutes later to senior forward Stephanie Fazenbaker for the score from the penalty strike past senior keeper Allison Stamp.
In the 13th minute, Longo tallied her second goal of the season when she drilled a left-footed shot from 20-yards out to put the Frostburg State up 3-0.
In the 18th minute, Greene got Geneseo on the scoreboard when she headed home a corner kick by junior forward Kelsey Raschke. The duo connected once again two minutes later when Raschke's shot from 10 yards out in the left half of the box was saved by Bobcats' senior keeper Katie Smith but Greene was there to hit home the rebound into the right corner of the net for her team-leading 15th goal of the season. Greene has now scored at least one goal in ten of Geneseo's last 11 games.
The Knights outshot Frostburg State 6-0 after letting up three early goals but it was the Bobcats taking a 3-2 lead into halftime.
In the 86th minute, sophomore midfielder Emily Green scored the equalizer after she beat a defender near the top of the box and struck the ball into the lower right corner of the net. The scoring play was set up by Greene who slid a pass through the box after saving it from going over the end line.
Junior midfielder Marissa Benson headed a shot on goal in the final seconds of regulation but it was saved by Smith as the match entered extra time.
In the 93rd minute, after controlling a long ball out of Geneseo's backfield, Greene out-muscled a Bobcats' defender to face their keeper one-on-one but took a touch too far as Smith came up with the ball.
The Knights had another opportunity in the 108th minute when Green got by a defender in the box but hit a shot wide right. Geneseo controlled possession throughout overtime, tallying six shots, but were unable to find the back of the net as the game ended in a 3-3 tie. The Knights would advance on penalty kicks, 2-1.
Stamp collected five saves, and added two more during penalty kicks, as the Knights finished with a 16-9 advantage in shots.
Geneseo (16-2-3) will face host Johns Hopkins (17-3-1) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow at 5 p.m. at Homewood Field. This is the program's first tournament victory since the 1994 squad made their way to the NCAA semifinals.
