Sept. 23, 2007
EASTON, Pa. - For the second consecutive game, the Lafayette women's soccer team was held scoreless, as the Leopards fell to Mount St. Mary's on Sunday afternoon 2-0 at Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium. Freshman goalkeeper Brittany Futterknecht tallied seven saves on the afternoon.
It was Lafayette that challenged the Mount defense first in the opening minutes, creating the first of six corner kicks in the game.
However, Mount St. Mary's countered quickly into the Lafayette zone and with just over four minutes into the contest, they struck first. Colleen Regan sent a shot from 25 yards out over the head of Futterknecht into the upper right quarter of the net to give the Mount an early 1-0 advantage.
Despite the goal deficit, Lafayette held a 3-2 shot advantage in the opening 15 minutes of the game. The back and forth midfield battle continued into halftime, as Mount St. Mary's clinged to the 1-0 lead going into intermission.
The see-saw battle continued well into the second frame, as both teams worked both ends of the field.
Futterknecht continued to keep the Leopards in the game with two saves off Mount St. Mary's breakaways in the 58th and 60th minutes. Both times, the Demarest, N.J. native challenged the Mount attacker and made sprawling saves to her left.
The Leopards nearly locked the game at one with 22 minutes remaining when senior Brittany Downham found classmate Kelly Koreyva streaking down the left hand side. Koreyva made the turn and shot, but Mount goalkeeper Anna Lebo took two steps to her left to make the save.
Futterknecht ended her second collegiate start with seven saves in the game, while Lebo tallied three for the victorious Mount.
Head coach Mick Statham will take his squad back to the training field in the upcoming days, hoping to continue to build going into Wednesday night's game versus Monmouth.
"I thought we lacked a little bit of an edge today," Statham said. "We did put some decent patterns together, but the final pass lacked quality. Fair play to Mount St. Mary's, as they scored two quality goals. Obviously, we're disappointed to lose two games at home this weekend, but we have to go back to the training field and keep working for positive results."
Lafayette stays in the friendly confines of Mike Bourger '44 Field on Wednesday night when they host Monmouth. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
