Field Hockey Drops Heartbreaker In Overtime To Syracuse, 1-0

Sept. 29, 2006

AMHERST, Mass. - Meg Ryan scored the game-winning goal 4:13 into overtime giving Syracuse (5-6) a 1-0 win over Massachusetts (3-8) Friday afternoon at Garber Field. Her goal came seconds after UMass was unable to convert on back-to-back penalty corners. After her first collegiate shutout earlier this week against Siena, freshman Sarah Williams (Colorado Springs, Colo.) made nine saves for the Minutewomen. UMass was out-shot 15-5 and did not register a shot on goal. Syracuse had a slight edge in penalty corners 5-4.

Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively in the first half. Syracuse's Alison Babbitt stole the ball deep in the UMass zone and broke in alone on Williams who came out of the net and was able to make the sliding save and keep the game scoreless.

That was really the only scoring chance for either team in the half as it was a very defensive half and much of the play was in the midfield. UMass had three shots in the half, all blocked by defenders, while the Orange had just the one by Babbitt on the break-away. Both teams had one penalty corner.

Syracuse had the first chance to break the deadlock about eight minutes into the second half. The Orange were awarded a corner and SU leading scorer Michelle Sola took the first shot. It was saved by Williams but the rebound went right to Meg Ryan in front of the cage. She got two clean shots off but Williams was able to make the saves and UMass was able to clear the zone.

Syracuse began to take advantage of UMass turnovers after the mid-way point of the second half, but the Minutewoman defense was able to hold their ground. UMass called a timeout with 12:56 left to try and settle down and re-group. The Orange had take all seven of the second half shots to that point.

UMass finally got its first scoring chance of the half when it got a corner with just over 10 minutes left. The ball went to junior Kara Murphy (Dedham, Mass.). Murphy tried to dump the ball down low to sophomore Katelyn Orlando (Manchester, Mass.), but a Syracuse defender got in the way and was able to clear the ball out of the zone. Syracuse then had a flurry right before the end of regulation, but Williams was able to make a couple of saves and send the game into overtime.

UMass started off the overtime by getting back-to-back penalty corners in the first few minutes, but were unable to take advantage. On the second one, sophomore Mary Shea (Foxboro, Mass.) nearly ended the gamer, but her re-direct of a Murphy pass trickled along the goal line and went harmlessly wide.

Syracuse got the ball down on the other end and was able to capitalize on a UMass miscue. It appeared that the Minutewomen were going to be able to clear the ball out of the circle, but it somehow went across to Ryan on the left side. She was able to spin around and blast a shot over the left side of Williams for her second goal of the season and ending the game.

UMass will enjoy a week off now before opening up the Atlantic 10 Conference season Friday, Oct. 6 against Temple at Garber Field. Game-time is set for 3:00 PM and video will be available free of charge via UMass All-Access at www.umassathletics.com. Live stats will also be available on Gametracker.

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