The Orange Goes The Distance Against East Carolina

Friday, September 14

Syracuse, N.Y.

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

East Carolina

Karrah Benson helped the Orange earn its second shutout of the season.

The Orange Goes The Distance Against East Carolina

9/14/2007 10:41:27 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Junior defenders Karrah Benson and Sarah VanSickle anchored the defense for the women's soccer team, which earned its second shutout of the season with a draw, 0-0, against East Carolina on Friday.

"It was a good hard fought game and I'm really proud of our team," said head coach Pat Farmer, whose team is 2-2-1 this season. "East Carolina was a very physical team and we hung in there. We had some great scoring chances and on defense we made some key plays. It was a good effort by our team."

Benson made a key play at the 26:22 mark when she broke up a scoring chance from only three yards out. The Orange defense only allowed two shots on goal in the first half, while SU took five.

The first great chance for Orange came at 3:29 when senior midfielder Jen Taormina found the ball in a scramble in front of the net. Her shot, which was from 15 yards out, sailed just high. At 12:47 freshman midfielder Dana Bergstrom played a thru-ball to senior forward Lauren Jentzen, who found herself in a foot race with Pirate goalkeeper Amber Campbell. Jentzen was just out of reach when Campbell jumped on the ball.

Rain in the second half did not slow down the two teams. East Carolina applied pressure early and thanks to a saves by sophomore goalkeeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan, including a sprawling save on a shot by East Carolina's Regan Sigler from just inside the box at 56:42, the score remained tied.

Bergstrom and sophomore midfielder Tessa MacDougall provided the Orange with its best chances in the second half. Bergstrom's shot from the left side went just high at 74:16 and MacDougall just missed the right post with a shot at 81:59. Bennett-Hattan turned away five shots, sending the game into overtime.

"In overtime we tried to come out hard because had the wind in our favor," VanSickle said. "We tried to play the ball down the line and get the ball in the box and try and score. Defensively we were able to contain them for the most part and were able to control the ball."

The Pirates only took one shot in overtime, which went high. Syracuse took four attempts and a save on sophomore midfielder Chelsea Berry's try a 97:12 extended the game into the second overtime period.

Sophomore midfielder Danielle Jordan preserved the draw when she cleared a ball from in front of a wide open net at 105:10.

The game ended with SU tailing 15 shots and eight corner kicks. ECU finished with 10 shots and five corners. Both Bennett-Hattan and Campbell denied five shots.

The Orange travels to eighth-ranked Boston College Sunday for a 1 p.m. game.