WESTON, Mass. - Suffolk freshman Caleigh O'Brien (Wilbraham, Mass.) scored 37 seconds into the first overtime period on Saturday afternoon as the Regis (Mass.) women's soccer team suffered a crushing 3-2 defeat at Regis Stadium in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action.
With the loss, the Pride falls to 2-3 on the season, 2-2 in GNAC play. The Rams pick up their first conference win of the season, moving to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the GNAC.
The Pride's Emily Lange (Ashland, Mass.) opened the scoring on the day with her first collegiate goal at the 1:20 mark. Freshman Emma Mendes (Pawtucket, R.I.) found Lange in the box from the right hand side, who fired one past Kirsten Weiker (Durham, N.H.) off a ground cross to give the Pride a 1-0 lead.
The score was still 1-0 in the 73rd minute, when Lange tallied her second goal of the game to give the Pride a 2-0 lead. Off a Jenna Novio (Rockland, Mass.) corner kick, Lange scooped up a loose ball and fired it into the open cage.
The Rams however refused to go down without a fight, scoring their first goal of the contest on a penalty kick by Erika Nelson (Peabody, Mass.) in the 81st minute to cut the deficit to 2-1.
O'Brien would get her head to a corner kick just eight minutes later to even the score with 41 seconds left on the clock. Senior Jennifer Martin (Higganum, Conn.) hit a perfect curling corner low into the box, and O'Brien rose above two Pride defenders to redirect it over the outstreched arms of Regis keeper Kyrsten Drake (Loganville, Ga.) to send the game to overtime.
O'Brien wasted no time scoring the game-winner once the extra session started. Veronica Bernardo (Ludlow, Mass.) played a ball up the middle of the field through the Pride defense which O'Brien got to first, tapping the ball past an on-charging Drake and into the cage to secure the win for the Rams.
Drake was credited with the loss in goal, making two saves. The win went to Suffolk's Julia Fieldsend (Exeter, N.H.), who made six saves in 70 minutes in relief of Weiker, who went down with an injury in the 21st minute.
Next up for the Pride, they'll play Lesley University at home on Tuesday night in non-conference action. Suffolk will be back in action on Wednesday, hosting Simmons at 7:00 p.m.
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