UAlbany WSOC Secures First Round Home Game in AE Tournament with 1-1 Draw at Maine
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ORONO, Maine – With Kiana Rugar's 79th minute equalizer goal, UAlbany locks down the 4-seed and an America East Tournament first round home game with a 1-1 draw at Maine on Sunday.
4-seed UAlbany (6-8-5, 3-2-3 AE) will rematch against 5-seed Maine (4-7-6, 2-1-5 AE) on Thursday, October 30th at 7 p.m. at Bob Ford Field for the first round of the America East Tournament.
“Learning to battle and earn a goal to tie the game up was and will be a valuable lesson for us as we prepare for our first playoff game,” said UAlbany coach Caitlin Cucchiella. “I think we learned a lot about Maine today, and it will only help us when we play them again this week.”
Rugar netted her fifth goal of the year with the score, now standing with 16 points in her freshman season.
“Each player brought a new level of energy and desire to the second half,” said Rugar. “It made it easy to feed off of each other, and the goal was bound to come with the momentum the team found.”
Charlene Achille scored Maine's goal in the ninth minute, assisted by Camille V-Tremblay and Ashley Robinson.
In goal, Alana Brennan picked up the draw for UAlbany, saving eight shots in 110 minutes. Claudi Dube-Trempe got the draw for Maine with six saves.
In the 9th minute, Maine struck early. A cross from V-Tremblay found Robinson, who passed to Achille for the shot and score, putting Maine up 1-0.
UAlbany defended against a couple of shots from the 18th-20th minutes, including Brennan saving a shot from Robinson just before the 20th minute arrived.
Minute 26 saw the first good chance for UAlbany. Leanne Miller got a look at fired towards the net, with her attempt being blocked. Kelly Kempf tried a rebound shot, but missed wide.
Maine controlled possession for the minutes after and peppered at the cage, including two shots from Eve L'Abbe. Brennan saved a pair of shots as the UAlbany defense held.
Into the final minutes of the half, Krista Fitzpatrick went back for a corner kick, finding Rugar for the shot wide of the post. Following the goal kick, Alexa Schneider went for the cage, seeing the shot blocked. The two sides went into the locker room with Maine up 1-0.
Action heated up in the 61st minute. Following a couple of shots from Maine, Vivian Vega countered the other way and tried a long shot, resulting in the attempt being blocked. Maine got back down the field and had Marie-Pier Gougeon take a shot, missing wide.
UAlbany had chances in the 65th minute as Schneider ripped a shot, being saved by the keeper. Seconds later, Vega got another attempt, missing wide.
In the 79th minute, Rugar got the ball got past the Maine back line. Rugar and the goalie each went for the ball on a slide tackle, with Rugar winning 25-yards out. The ball went all the way into the net off the keeper from the tackle, giving Rugar the goal and tying the game at 1-1.
Brennan had a big save in the last chance stopping Liis Emajoe's header in the 87th minute. The two sides went into overtime.
After some play in the midfield by both sides, Rugar had two chances in the box, with each shot being saved in the 97th and 98th minutes. UAlbany did not allow a shot on goal in the period as the sides went into the second overtime.
First chance in the second OT went to Maine, as a Joanie L'Abbe corner was headed by Kendra Ridley wide of the woodwork.
In minute 107, Caitlyn Paltsios fired a ball into the box for the corner kick. The ball landed on the ground, but a Maine defender knocked it away before an attempt on the net.
In the final minute of the second overtime, Achille got loose from the pack and received a cross for a header attempt to the corner, but Brennan saved it on a jump. The clock ran out and the match finished in a 1-1 draw.
