By: Amoni Haynes | October 14, 2021
On October 10th, 2021, the UAlbany Women’s Soccer team defeated the first place UMass Lowell River Hawks with a score of 1-0, winning their first overtime game in five attempts this season.
Star forward Jasmine Colbert secured the win for the Great Danes, scoring in the 93rd minute by ripping a shot from the top of the box over UMass Lowell goalkeeper Lisa Sjogren, with an assist by Natasha Fowler-Varon. The score by Colbert marks her seventh goal of the season.
UAlbany goalkeeper Cassandra Coster did not disappoint. She recorded a career-high 11 saves. It was also her second shutout of the season.
This match was a tough battle as momentum shifted both ways. The Great Danes were outshot by the River Hawks 10-5 in the first half with five of those shots on target, while the Great Danes struggled to get off their first shot until the 15th minute.
UAlbany was able to bounce back, gaining momentum in the second half outshooting UMass Lowell 13-9 with their first real scoring opportunity involving a counterattack with a shot high over the crossbar in the 60th minute. This offensive uptick carried over into overtime, allowing the Great Danes to hand the River Hawks their second loss of the season and their first in-conference loss.
After the overtime win, UAlbany Head Coach Leigh Howard had some encouraging words for her team. “These are three big points for us. Across the board, today proved that in this conference anything can happen on any given day,” said Howard. “We played a great UMass Lowell team who had done really well thus far in conference and battled every step of the way with them. We’re proud to have secured another shutout and have to continue to give credit to Jasmine for putting away another game-winning goal in conference.”
With a record of 3-5-4, UAlbany is set to host the University of Vermont on Oct. 14 for its Breast Cancer Awareness Game.