Box Score LEICESTER, Mass.-The New England College women's soccer team drew Becker College to a 0-0 double-overtime tie, despite holding a 17-2 advantage in shots-on-goal over the 110-minute contest.
The game marked the first New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) game for the Pilgrims. NEC is now 2-4-1 on the season, while Becker is 2-2-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
New England College dominated possession for much of the first half, outshooting Becker 12-3 and keeping the ball in Hawk territory. With four minutes left in the half, Becker finally got an opportunity to score when they were awarded a corner kick taken by senior midfielder Maria Colon. But a header shot from sophomore midfielder Shannon Kelley went high and the Pilgrims escaped. Then with 20 seconds remaining, NEC had an excellent chance to get on the scoreboard when freshman forward Alexa Zayas (Lynn, Mass.) evaded the Hawk defense and got the goalie one-on-one on the left side. But Becker freshman goalkeeper Lyndsey Cobb-Wilkins (Elmira, N.Y.) was up to the challenge, recording the save and immediately falling on the ball to keep the game scoreless going into halftime. It was one of seven saves Cobb-Wilkins tallied before the break.
In the second half, both teams raised their level of aggression, but they continued to see their scoring attempts go awry. With 27 minutes left in regulation, Becker sophomore midfielder Arianna Calouro put a corner kick in front of the NEC net but a shot from Kelley went wide. Two minutes later, NEC senior forward Michaela Pomeroy (Thetford, Vt.) beat two Becker defenders but shot wide right, and the game remained scoreless. In the closing three minutes of the half, the Pilgrims tallied six shots on goal, but Cobb-Wilkins remained stalwart, and the game would go into overtime.
In the 94th minute, Becker had another golden opportunity slip through their fingers when leading-scorer senior forward Lindsey Keith (Sutton, Mass.), stymied up until that point in the game, shot just wide left off a free kick from 25 yards out. NEC answered again with a flurry of shots on goal in the closing minutes, only for Cobb-Wilkins to answer the bell once more, and the game went into double-overtime.
Then with 5:10 remaining in the second overtime, the Pilgrims nearly ended the game when Pomeroy put a perfect cross from the right side to a wide-open senior forward Tara Bainbridge (South Hadley, Mass.) right in front of the net. But the kick when above the crossbar as the game remained scoreless. NEC had a corner kick in the closing seconds, but Cobb-Wilkins deflected the shot and the game ended in a tie.
In total, the Pilgrims outshot Becker 36-7 on the day.
GOALKEEPERS
Becker's Cobb-Wilkins had a career-high 17 saves, while NEC's Kayla Pugliese (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) finished with two saves.
WHAT'S NEXT
NEC travels to Castleton University on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference game.
