Vigna's 89th Minute Goal Gives Orange 1-0 Win

Thursday, September 8

Kingston, R.I.

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

5-1-1

Rhode Island

1-3-2

Syracuse

Rhode Island

9/8/2016 9:05:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

KINGSTON, R.I. – With a little over a minute left in regulation, junior Jessica Vigna found the back of the net on a penalty kick giving Syracuse a 1-0 win against Rhode Island (1-3-2) on the road. The Orange improve to 5-1-1 and move on to face Fairfield on Sunday.

After a scoreless match heading into the final minute, junior Eva Gordon made an impressive move to penetrate into the penalty area with a great look at the goal. A Rhode Island defender committed a foul leading to a Syracuse penalty kick with the clock ticking down. Vigna stepped up and took the shot for the Orange, firing it straight into the goal.

"I thought we played our best match of the season tonight," head coach Phil Wheddon said. "We put together a full 90 minutes of outstanding play. Eva Gordon was absolutely fantastic tonight. I think she played her best game tonight."

Gordon recorded one shot in the game, but her impressive play can't be described by what's on the stat sheet.

"Gordon was dynamic on the ball and I thought we were dynamic in the attack as a team. Our speed of play caused problems. The girls really bought into our game plan tonight and stuck to it. We were well-organized on defense and kept several dangerous Rhode Island players from scoring," Wheddon said.

For Vigna, this was her first goal since scoring her freshman year and the first game winner of her career. The confidence shown by the junior to elect to take the penalty kick with the game on the line on the road should be a promising sign for the Orange.

Sydney Brackett and Maddie Iozzi each recorded two shots in the game, including a shot by Iozzi in the first half that went slightly too high and hit the crossbar. In all, 10 different Syracuse players recorded a shot in the match leading the Orange to outshoot the Rams 12-6.

Junior goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan earned her fourth shutout of the season. Brosnan now has 11 career clean sheets, moving her into a tie for fifth all-time in program history. She had three saves in tonight's match.

Syracuse will be back in action on Sunday at Fairfield at 1 p.m.

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