Women’s Soccer heads to third round of NCAAs
Kuo’s goal in second overtime leads team past the College of New Jersey on Sunday
MIT Women’s Soccer, ranked seventh in New England, topped the College of New Jersey 1-0 in double overtime in a high-paced NCAA Championship second round match on Sunday afternoon at Haverford College. Senior Emily Kuo scored the game-winning goal in the first minute of the second overtime period, heading the ball in after a cross from freshman Priyanka Gaur. The Engineers advanced to the third round of the tournament that will take place next weekend.
It was an aggressive game right from the very beginning. The ball spent a lot of the first half deep in MIT territory but the Engineers’ defense were able to thwart all attacks. Five minutes in, TCNJ’s Katie Lindacher shot from inside the box but was blocked by Kaitlyn L. Nealon ’14, who slid in front of the ball and kicked it out of play. A few minutes later, a shot went past diving keeper Meghan S. Wright ’13 but hit the right post and was booted out of the danger zone by Samantha A. Fleischmann ’14.
In the 20th minute, TCNJ took advantage of an open net but junior Faith OBrian punted the ball out of the goal to prevent a would-be goal. Morgan K. Moroi ’15 had two impressive saves within 10 minutes of each other. At the end of the first half, the Lions outshot the Engineers, 15-5. All MIT shots had to be saved by goalie Kendra Griffith, while only four TCNJ attempts were saved by Wright.
With a score of 0-0 going into the second period, the Cardinal and Gray continued to fight. In the first 10 minutes, Wright made two vital saves just eight seconds apart. Twenty seconds later, the Lions had two of their best chances at a goal when the first shot narrowly went to the left of the near post in the 56th minute and then another hit the crossbar just above a leaping Wright. With 13 minutes remaining in the game, the ball was almost knocked into the opposing net after deflecting off a TCNJ player but it was eventually saved. With one second remaining in the half, OBrian shot from 20 yards out but hit the left post, sending the game into overtime.
In the second 10-minute overtime period, Lindacher shot just past the left post, narrowly missing the net. With four minutes left on the clock, Kuo headed the ball into the net, ending the game.
The College of New Jersey outshot MIT, 31-11. Griffith made seven saves, while Wright had 13.