Women's Soccer Blanks New Hampshire As Clinton Ties Mark
October 19, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Senior Jessica Clinton notched her school career-tying 17th shutout as the Terrier women's soccer team blanked the University of New Hampshire, 2-0, in a key America East clash at Nickerson Field on Sunday, Oct. 19.
The win improved the Terriers' overall record to 8-4-4, while they kept pace in the conference race with a 4-0-1 record. In the meantime, New Hampshire had its two-game win streak end, as the Wildcats are 5-7-3 overall and 3-1-1 in the league.
When the afternoon's action began, four teams were tied for first in America East. The Terriers and New Hampshire were tied with Maine and Hartford for the top spot with 10 points each. Maine defeated Stony Brook, 3-0, on Sunday afternoon, while Northeastern blanked Hartford, 4-0. Thus, the Terriers and Black Bears, who tied 1-1 in overtime on October 5th, remain tied for the top spot with 13 points each. Northeastern, with 12 points, moved up to third with its impressive win.
"I am very happy with our performance this afternoon," said Terrier head coach Nancy Feldman after the game.
"I thought that we played great in the first half," offered the coach. "In fact, that is as good a first half as we have played in awhile. We keep track of the 50-50 balls, and we beat them 41-21 in that half. That's an incredible margin. We dominated play. We played very intelligent, good soccer in that half."
The Terriers outshot the Wildcats, 11-1, in the opening 45 minutes of action and took a 1-0 lead at the 30:17 mark when sophomore Susan Marschall scored her fifth goal of the season. She was set up perfectly on a crossing pass from senior Katie Chen. The ball came to Marschall from the left side and she fired the ball past UNH keeper Liz MacKay for the only goal the Terriers would need.
"We worked on that piece in practice and Katie and Susan worked it to perfection," said Feldman. "It is rewarding to see the players put into a game what they have been working on so hard in practice. I take my hat off to them for what they did.
"The way we played in that first half is what we expect of the team," said the coach. "I am proud of how consistent this team has played since the Delaware game (September 14th)."
Sophomore Melissa Shulman provided the Terriers with an insurance goal at 65:13. She took a crossing pass from sophomore Meghann Cook in the box and beat MacKay to the far corner of the goal. For Shulman, it was her team-leading ninth goal of the season.
While Marschall and Shulman were taking care of the offense, the four Terrier backs-seniors Lesley Garvey and Emily Dionne, sophomore Brittany MacDonald, and freshman Eric Lee were playing exceptionally well in preventing New Hampshire's Jackie Wishoski and Chiara Best from generating any attack. Wishoski entered the game third in America East in points per game (1.28), while she was second in goals per game (0.62 with nine in 14 games), and tied for first in game-winning goals (3). Overall, Wishoski had 9-2-20 in 14 games, while Best had 7-3-17 in 14 games. Neither had a shot on goal against the Terriers.
"Our goal was to make sure Best was not able to turn and head for the goal," said Feldman, "and to keep Wishoski in front of us. And, we accomplished both."
The major benefactor was Clinton, who had to make just two saves, one in each half, en route to her fifth shutout of the season and 17th of her career, tying her with Meghan Lynch for the school's all-time career record.
"Our four backs were fantastic, and we got terrific play at midfield," said Feldman. "I also thought that Katie Chen played an awesome game. In fact, it was her finest performance as a player for us. She is really coming together as a player.
"Meghann Cook also had a terrific game," concluded the coach.
