2008 Woodie Awards
Women's Soccer Shines in National TV Debut
Radoslav Ivanov
Issue date: 9/20/07 Section: Sports
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In the last week, the women's soccer team played three fantastic matches and won its first two home contests of the season. Last Thursday, the highly anticipated nationally televised match between Iona and Colgate on the Fox Soccer Channel attracted an estimated 1,000 people who came to support the Raiders. The fans created a fantastic atmosphere and obviously increased the players' morale. Colgate controlled the ball for most of the first 15 minutes, but couldn't convert on any opportunities. Meanwhile, Iona had trouble organizing their attacks. Although the fans could see that Colgate was the better squad, the game got tenser with each passing minute and each missed opportunity. The 26th minute brought relief when sophomore Jessica Bitsack received a great pass down the wing and passed a nice ball to senior Josie Johnson, who had no trouble converting a header into a 1-0 Raider lead. The contest remained tied for the remainder of the half with both teams trying to control the midfield.
The second half was all Colgate. A row of three corner kicks was finished by a nice shot by senior Franny Iacuzzi, who took advantage of a header pass by first-year Beth Clifford in the 52nd minute. Nine minutes before the final whistle, Johnson scored her second goal of the match by making the most of another Clifford assist. The final score was 3-0, although the Raiders could have won by an even greater margin. Head Coach Kathy Brawn beamed when she spoke of the game.
"I was very pleased with the way we played," she said. "The players did a great job of handling the extra conditions such as the game being televised."
Colgate's next game, which was played at Northwestern, was one of the tightest games the Raiders have played this season. It was mainly a physical battle at the beginning as both squads committed more than a dozen fouls while struggling to gain ball possession. Colgate took the lead in the 43rd minute when senior Brittany Pearsall, primarily a goalkeeper, went into play and scored her first goal of the season by putting a deflected ball into the net. Northwestern pushed forward in the second half because it had the wind at its back, but it could not convert any early opportunities. It looked like the Raiders would stretch their win streak to three, but Katherine Sampson scored at the 89:59 mark, forcing overtime with just one second left in regulation. The Wildcats were on the run in the 20 extra minutes, but could not convert any of their four shots, thus ending the game in a tie.
The second half was all Colgate. A row of three corner kicks was finished by a nice shot by senior Franny Iacuzzi, who took advantage of a header pass by first-year Beth Clifford in the 52nd minute. Nine minutes before the final whistle, Johnson scored her second goal of the match by making the most of another Clifford assist. The final score was 3-0, although the Raiders could have won by an even greater margin. Head Coach Kathy Brawn beamed when she spoke of the game.
"I was very pleased with the way we played," she said. "The players did a great job of handling the extra conditions such as the game being televised."
Colgate's next game, which was played at Northwestern, was one of the tightest games the Raiders have played this season. It was mainly a physical battle at the beginning as both squads committed more than a dozen fouls while struggling to gain ball possession. Colgate took the lead in the 43rd minute when senior Brittany Pearsall, primarily a goalkeeper, went into play and scored her first goal of the season by putting a deflected ball into the net. Northwestern pushed forward in the second half because it had the wind at its back, but it could not convert any early opportunities. It looked like the Raiders would stretch their win streak to three, but Katherine Sampson scored at the 89:59 mark, forcing overtime with just one second left in regulation. The Wildcats were on the run in the 20 extra minutes, but could not convert any of their four shots, thus ending the game in a tie.
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