College Soccer

College Wrap-Around: Clean sheet draw for RMU men; Dukes-OSU cancel match

by
John Krysinsky
August 26, 2018

The weekend action for area college teams continued on Sunday as Pitt women’s team pulled out another win as they’ve run their record to 3-0-1 for the season.

In addition, here are a few more results from Sunday.

DUKES, OHIO STATE CANCELLED DUE TO LIGHTNING

After Duquesne women won its home opener on Friday over Jacksonville, 6-0, they traveled to Columbus, to take on The Ohio State University.

The match, which was set to kickoff at 7 p.m., was marred by continuous lighting in the Columbus, Ohio area and eventually cancelled.

Tonight’s match between the Buckeyes and Dukes has been cancelled and will not be made up. Ohio State is back in action against Morehead State at 7 p.m. Thursday at JOMS.#GoBucks

— Ohio State WSOC (@OhioStateWSOC) August 27, 2018

The Dukes are off until Sept. 2 when they host Binghamton at noon.

FONDI POSTS SEVENTH CAREER SHUTOUT AS RMU PLAYS ST. BONAVENTURE TO 0-0 DRAW

Robert Morris’ men’s soccer team and St. Bonaventure played to a 0-0 draw at the Marra Athletics Complex in Olean, NY on Sunday.

Robert Morris (0-1-1, 0-0-0 NEC) rebounded from a season-opening 3-0 defeat by tightening up its defense, allowing just six shots on net for Winter Fondi to save.

St. Bonaventure (0-1-1, 0-0-0 A-10) was coming off a hard-luck 2-1 defeat at No. 7 Louisville on Friday.

The first half saw little chances on either side as the teams combined for five shot attempts. That number quadrupled in the second 45, as the Bonnies tallied 11 shots compared to the Colonials’ 10.

RMU generated a couple of chances in the 61st minute as Lorenzo Guagneli tested Luke Iacobellis on goal, with Zac Sherman then sending an attempt over the bar. 20 minutes later, Sherman had a pair of attempts gloved by Iacobellis as the Colonials pushed for a winner.

In the closing seconds of the first overtime, Fondi stepped up to make a big save on a corner kick, stopping a strike from John Scott. The redshirt senior again came through in the last breaths of the second overtime, blocking an attempt from Cuneyt Vardar with 1:57 remaining.

Sherman tallied a team-best four shot attempts for RMU.

This is the seven shutout of Fondi’s career.

Robert Morris returns home for a pair of matches next weekend, starting with a 4:00 p.m. kickoff on Friday, Aug. 31 against Detroit Mercy.

ANOTHER OT LOSS FOR RMU WOMEN

Robert Morris’ women’s soccer team battled back from a two-goal second half deficit to force overtime, but host Niagara would find a winner in the 95th minute to top the Colonials, 3-2, this afternoon from Niagara Field.

Niagara (2-1-0, 0-0-0 MAAC) opened the scoring in the 34th minute as Hailey Bicknell fired a strike from 30 yards out into the top right corner. Veda Hensel doubled the Purple Eagles’ advantage in the 47th minute after tucking one past Julia Schmid.

Robert Morris (1-3-0, 0-0-0 NEC) pulled one back in the 59th minute after the hosts committed a foul inside the 18. Jane Schleicher stepped up to take the penalty kick, calmly sending the Niagara keeper the other way with a chip inside the left post.

Nine minutes later, the score was reset. Bailey Farabaugh played a long ball into the box, connecting with Schleicher. The senior midfielder had a step on her defender and anticipated the charging goalkeeper, chipping it over her for her third goal of the season and second of the contest.

The Colonials nearly had their third goal in the 86th minute as Brittany O’Connell forced a save by Sabrina Locas.

The Purple Eagles found a winner in the 95th minute. After Schmid made a save on Hensel, Alexis Horwedel pounced on the rebound and tapped it into an open net.

Schmid made six saves in her first start of the season.

Schleicher moved into the top 10 in career points at RMU (32) and now owns sole possession of seventh place in goals (14).

Robert Morris continues its four-match road trip on Friday, Aug. 31 at 7:00 p.m. against Milwaukee.

WVU WOMEN PICK UP THIRD DRAW, HALTING NO. 19 NORTHWESTERN’s WIN STREAK

No. 18-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team stopped No. 19 Northwestern’s win streak at three with a 0-0 (2OT) draw in a hot, muggy afternoon at Purdue’s Boilermaker Challenge Cup at Folk Field.

Playing in their third straight double-overtime match, the Mountaineers (0-1-3) physically dominated the Wildcats (3-0-1), holding NU, the 2017 Big Ten Conference runner-up, to just six shots and one corner kick, both the fewest allowed by WVU this season.

“I tell this team all the time – soccer is a game of inches,” Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “We’re hitting posts, and we’re creating chances. The ball is going to go in. Unfortunately, we played a great game today, we just didn’t finish.

“We are a program that’s here to win. Northwestern is a very dynamic team. For us to keep them to just two shots on-goal was something we feel good about because they are such a good team. We know we were good enough to win today.”