UNION, N.J. (11/12/14) – The Kean University women's soccer team dropped a hard-fought 2-1 ECAC Quarterfinal contest with Stevens Institute of Technology on Wednesday night.

Both the fifth-seeded Cougars (10-6-2) and fourth-seeded Ducks (11-7) came into Wednesday's game with an identical .611 winning percentage.

Indicative of the teams' equality, the two sides combined to limit each other to just one shot each over the game's first 15 minutes. Both were on goal and saved by the two goalkeepers, KC Nunez and Lindsey Mahnken for Stevens.

Though Stevens took the next four shots, at 23:01 the Cougars found themselves on the attack led by forwards Emily Jurcsek (pictured left) and Kaitlyn Pallitto. After the ball squirted through the Stevens back line, Pallitto sprinted toward it and touched it around the Ducks' goalkeeper. Once clear of her, Pallitto popped it into the cage for the unassisted score.

Kean held that lead through halftime despite getting outshot 8-4. The Cougars did have better chances, as they put four shots on goal to the Ducks' three.

Eight minutes into the second half, Deanna Columbia and Sam Marchetti nearly engineered a similar goal as the two forwards were on another breakaway for the Cougars. Marchetti got off a good, hard shot off but it went just wide.

With just 14:35 remaining, Stevens was running out of time. Over most of the second half, the Ducks had been buzzing around the Kean cage and took 11 shots with nothing to show for it. But a great individual effort by Ann Heine from over 20 yards out yielded a score just inside the left post that tied the match for Stevens.

In the 86th minute, Raba Nassif came up with a big goal for the Ducks off her left foot. The unassisted strike proved to be the difference as Stevens moved on to Saturday's semifinals with the late score.

The Kean women's soccer team ends the season with a 10-7-2 record. The Cougars won the ECAC title in both 2012 and 2013.