Castleton, Vt. (9/5/15) –After a scoreless first half, Jaclyn O'Grady slotted a shot in the 55th minute to secure UMass Boston's place in the Rutland Herald Invitational Championship Game with a 1-0 victory over the Kean University Women's Soccer Saturday evening.
The Cougars (0-2) turned in a solid display, outshooting the Beacons 18-6, but failed to capitalize on their opportunities. With the victory, the Beacons are now 1-0 on the season and will face Bard tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 pm in the Rutland Herald Invitational Final, while the Cougars will face Castleton in the consolation contest at 1:00 pm.
Neither team was able to capture the momentum in the first half, as they maintained a scoreless affair heading into the break. However, just ten minutes into the second frame, UMass Boston jumped out in front thanks to O'Grady's strike. The freshman forward controlled Natasha Stibor's through ball just outside the box, dribbled past a defender and slipped it just out of the keeper's reach to give the Beacons a 1-0 lead.
Just over five minutes later, the Cougars had a quality chance. Kaitlyn Pallitto played a pass perfectly on the right flank and broke into space before sending the ball to Emily Jurcsek on the far side of the field. The sophomore fired a shot on target, but Umass Boston's Alyssa Fugiel smothered her attempt near the far post to maintain the lead.
Trailing by one and with just seven minutes remaining in the contest, Kean came close to erasing their deficit and forcing extra-time. With the ball bouncing in the box, Pallitto (pictured left) took an audacious attempt and fired a bicycle kick towards the goal, but her shot rang off the crossbar and was cleared from danger.
The Cougars continued to press and put two shots off the crossbar, including a third attempt that flew just over the net, in the final seven minutes of play, but the Beacons were able to withstand the attack and secure their spot in the championship game with a 1-0 victory.
In her collegiate debut, Fugiel turned in a seven-save, shutout performance to capture the win, while KC Nunez suffered the loss after allowing just one goal with one save.
