The College of Staten Island women’s soccer program suffered their first loss of the season this afternoon against Kean University. The Dolphins fell to the Cougars 5-1 at the CSI Soccer Complex and fell to 5-1-1 on the year while Kean University improved to 6-2.
The Dolphins and Cougars battled it out in the first half for an even 50-50 split in the time of possession with Kean finding their way onto the scoreboard first. Within the first seven minutes of the game, a miscue for the Dolphins’ defense led to a Sabrina Sirni goal to put Kean up 1-0. The beginning of this afternoon’s game was a repeat of last year’s matchup as Kean scored in the first six minutes of that matchup. Lauren Smith nearly tied it up earlier off of corner kick but rocketed it over the goal. The Dolphins, this time, were able to knot it up at one when Ashley Hunter headed the ball into the goal after it was bouncing around inside the six after a corner kick. Hunter had been subbed in less than a minute before netting her first career collegiate goal.
From there the Dolphins used that momentum to continue to play with Kean University and even threating to score once more. The winds would be ripped out of the Dolphins’ sails late in the first half. With just one minute left, Sabrina Pascarella collected a loose ball inside the six and tucked it underneath Maraya Jones to take a 2-1 lead and change halftime talks for Head Coach Giuseppe Pennetti.
The Dolphins had the worst case scenario happen to them to start the second half. Just five minutes in, Pascarella once again found the back of the net to increase their lead to 3-1. After that goal, the Dolphins lost all momentum and the Cougars were able to capitalize twice more. The Dolphins tallied five shots in the first half and were held without a shot in the second, which is their lowest shot total of the season.
The Dolphins will return to action on Saturday, September 23 at 1:00 pm against St. Joseph’s College – Brooklyn.
