MEADVILLE, Pa. - In a battle of defending conference champions, visiting SUNY-Oneonta scored two second half goals to top Allegheny 2-1, and snap the Gators' six-game winning streak.
The Gators, who were handed just their second home loss in two seasons, fall to 6-3 on the season, while Oneonta improves to 2-4-1.
Allegheny had the better of the play in the opening minutes of the first half, and took an early 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.
Sarah Donohue gathered a ball near midfield, and made a run down the sideline. She lofted a pass to
Jessie Thiessen at the top of the box, who knocked it home for her team-leading fifth goal of the season.
The Gators continued to have a number of scoring chances over the subsequent minutes, but were unable to convert. In the 11th minute, after thwarting an Oneonta corner kick attempt, Allegheny's
Tori Delzer was robbed on a point-blank blast from Oneonta keeper Rory Stark. Seven minutes later, the Gators were granted their first corner of the afternoon, and it almost paid dividends, but a header from
Niki Augustine was blocked in the net front scrum, and the score remained 1-0.
With just under 10 minutes left in the first half, Oneonta looked to tie it up, as Gator keeper
Gabby Curtis was forced to make a pair of saves from up close. Following the second stop, Oneonta was granted a corner, and played it up high. The blast from Taylor Messina went just over the crossbar, preserving Allegheny's one-goal lead as the game approached the intermission.
The physical first half saw the two teams combine for 17 fouls, with Oneonta out-shooting the Gators 7-4 over the opening 45 minutes.
The visitors took control early in the second half, tying the game at 1-all six minutes in when the Red Dragons' Rachel Berk won a footrace against Curtis to a loose ball right in front and chipped it home for the equalizer.
Allegheny looked to quickly counter, as just two minutes later, Thiessen came inches away from scoring her second goal of the day, but her header from 10 yards out was saved by Oneonta's Kelly Murphy. Murphy made two more big saves over the next 10 minutes, first denying
Sarah Sherwood and then Delzer on another blast from up top, before Kayla Diskin put the visitors in front 2-1 after sending home a one-timer from Jessica Lyden with 19:35 left to play.
Oneonta's defense would then tighten up, holding the Gators without a shot for the final 18 minutes of play to hold on for the comeback victory.
In the defense-heavy contest, Oneonta owned a slim 10-9 advantage in shots, as the Gators were led by Thiessen and Delzer, who each posted two attempts. Murphy earned the win in goal for the Red Dragons, coming on in relief at halftime and posting three saves, while Curtis made four stops in the loss. The physical play continued for the duration of the game, with a total of 27 fouls called.
The Gators will return to action with their final non-conference tuneup on Wed. Sept. 24, hosting Pitt-Bradford at 4 p.m. at the Robertson Athletic Complex.
