The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Bryant
Women's Soccer Fights Through Two Overtimes to Beat Bryant, 3-2
September 14 | Women's Soccer
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - In their second of two contests in New England this weekend, the Akron women's soccer team defeated Bryant 3-2 in a contest that went into two overtime periods before the Zips secured the win.
Junior Sydney Blomquist got Akron on the board early, as senior Karina Atkinson fed her a through ball from about 45 yards out that Blomquist was able take all the way as she beat her defender and net the Zips a goal with a shot to the left side, putting UA up 1-0 in the 15th minute.
The Bulldogs tied it up rather quickly, crossing the ball from the right side to score the equalizer in the 25th.
"We showed very early on, having heavy legs from the double overtime game on Friday night, we were sluggish, stepping slow to the ball at first," noted head coach Vernon Croft. "With that being said, we competed extremely well. We knew it was going to be a mentality game, it had to come from within. One of those "Were we going to be able to embrace the grind and gut it out?" kind of games."
After a series of substitutions from both squads, freshman Amy Dean took a corner kick off of the foot of freshman Loreana Lonigro and put it in goal, pushing the Zips back up to a 2-1 lead. The combination of Dean and Lonigro also scored the go-ahead goal off of a set piece in the first half of Akron's 3-1 victory over St. Bonaventure at home back on Sept. 5.
Bryant came out strong in the second half as Sarah Shucker once again tied it up with a shot from 30 yards out, evening the score at 2-2 as the teams eventually worked into overtime.
Though the Zips were outshot 4-1 in two overtime periods, it was Atkinson who made a cross into the box in the 108th minute that bobbled around a sea of players in the box and eventually bounced into the back of the net, giving Akron the golden goal and sealing their victory at Bulldog Stadium, 3-2.
"Next step for us is to be able to continue doing the little things well," said Croft. "You couldn't have asked for a better weekend result. You take a 38th ranked Boston [University] to overtime and come out of it with a point and then Sunday you're able to respond and finish the weekend with three points."
Junior goalkeeper Klaire Adee played all 107 minutes and 15 seconds for the Zips, making five saves in her second win in net this season.
"Concerted team effort. We needed every minute that everybody gave us," Croft added.
Akron returns home for a bout with Youngstown State this Friday (Sept. 19) before hitting the road again next week to begin conference play at Ohio (Sept. 26) and Kent State (Sept. 28).
