Box Score
BOSTON, Mass.—Seniors Krista Ledin (Bridgewater, Mass.) and Ericka Garufi (Milton, Mass.) scored within a 3-minute and 27 second span late in the second half to lead UMass Boston women's soccer (7-3-4, 4-1 Little East) to a comeback 3-2 victory over Keene State College (8-8, 3-2 Little East) Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center Field.
Playing in front of their largest crowd of the season for their "Think Pink" Game, the Beacons and Owls saw three lead changes and two ties, to help the Beacons extend their winning streak to four-straight against the defending Little East Conference Champions. The Beacons honored former player and former assistant coach Katherine Wall ('08) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer before the contest and raised money throughout the game for the UMass Boston Hall of Famer.
Ledin scored a pair of goals in the win to move into a tie for 25th place all-time in Division III women's soccer history with her 94 collegiate goals.
Garufi added her fifth goal of the season and second game-winning conference goal of the year, to help the Beacons extend their regular-season conference, home-winning streak to 10 in a row.
Junior back Elisa Brooks (San Diego, Calif.) was the hero of the day defensively for the Beacons, as broke up countless chances for the Owls and came up with a huge save on an Owls shot-that would have made it 2-1 Owls early in the second half.
Senior goalie Dani Perkins (Murrieta, Calif.) improved to 6-0 on the year by making a season-high seven stops. Saturday's win marked the 20th career win of her career.
Shannon Summers and Taylor Farland each scored for the Owls who suffered their second consecutive defeat. Sophomore goalie Dannielle Warhall made eight saves on 11 shots in the loss.
Ledin got the game off to a fitting start in the eighth minute, when the two-time Little East Conference Player of the Year scored on a sizzling line drive goal. Freshman Marina Kelly (Whitman, Mass.) forced a turnover just inside the Owls' end and sent a lead pass for Ledin. Ledin's first touch took her past the defender and then she blasted a shot across the goal mouth from 16-yards out, that Warhall couldn't get a piece of.
Keene State evened the game at 26:50 off of a perfectly executed cross into the box. Brittany Tolla sent an arching cross into the box and Summers' flicked a header into the far netting for a 1-1 tie.
With the game tied up at 1-1 and both teams realizing the stakes, the play became much more physical, with the two teams combining for 18 total fouls.
The Owls nearly came up with their second goal on two different occasions in the opening five minutes of the second half, only to be denied by the crossbar and the assistant referee's offsides flag.
Brooks denied a third Keene State opportunity in the 62nd minute, when the junior transfer made a kick save off of a Summers shot, with Perkins off of her line.
Keene State finally broke through at 67:03, as Farland picked up her team-leading seventh goal of the year. The freshman forward sent a left-footed shot just under the bar, from 22-yards out for a 2-1 Owls lead.
That's when UMass Boston began their turnaround, with Ledin converting for her Little-East leading 13th tally of the year. Junior back Sam Bendick (New Egypt, N.J.) sent a clear from just outside the box and Ledin took it from there, as she headed the ball by one defender on her first touch and raced past two more, before knocking it home with a sliding right-footed shot for a 2-2 tie at 76:08.
UMass Boston tacked on the game-winner 3:27 later, when Garufi came up with a highlight-reel marker.
The senior raced down a pass in the near corner and then a sent a high shot from just off the end line that went just over Warhall's hands and into the far netting for a 3-2 lead.
Keene State managed three more shots in the final 10 minutes, but Brooks' stepped in front of one shot, and Perkins made a save in the final 30 seconds of regulation.
The Beacons will host Tufts University Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. in a non-conference matchup.
