Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan women's soccer team was upended by Sacred Heart (3-2-2) on Friday, falling 2-1 in a very chippy match at Gaelic Park. The Jaspers and Pioneers tallied goals within 37 seconds of each other in the first half as the squads entered halftime locked at 1-1. It was Sacred Heart forward Lucy GIldein's goal in the 72nd minute which proved to be the decisive strike.
Junior midfielder Jen Mulvey gave Sacred Heart its first one goal advantage over Manhattan (1-4-0) in the 12the minute when she sent a header into the back of the net off a feed from junior forward Ashley Moore. It took the Jaspers less than a minute to come up with an answer as sophomore forward Martine Diamond recorded her second career goal, which was assisted by classmate Janie Schlauder. Diamond beat Pioneers' goalkeeper Sydney Judkins in a one-on-one situation and tapped the ball into an open net.
The Jaspers had a few prime chances to take their first lead of the match in the 23rd minute, but a save and two blocked shots within eight feet in front of the goal kept the score even. Judkins came up with a save on Jaspers' junior Allison Pfeiffer's point blank shot attempt. Then off a rebound Pfeiffer had her next shot blocked. Senior forward Megan Lavecchia had another great look off the rebound from the right side of the goal, but a controversial no call on a block by a Sacred Heart defender preserved the score.
Manhattan slightly missed several opportunities to tally the go-ahead goal in the second half. The most notable attempt came from Lavecchia in the 53rd minute when she fired a header just inches high of the crossbar.
Sacred Heart broke the 1-1 tie at the 71:56 mark going ahead 2-1 on Gildein's first goal of the season. Gildein tracked down a rebound in front of the net off Manhattan goalkeeper Kara Davis' save on Moore's shot attempt. With Davis recovering from the first shot, Gildein had an open look at the net and capitalized.
Davis finished with four saves over 90 minutes of action. Judkins picked up her third victory of the season for Sacred Heart with eight saves on the afternoon.
Manhattan travels to Staten Island on Sunday for a 1 p.m. match with Wagner. The Jaspers return home on Wednesday to host Albany at 4 p.m. in Riverdale.
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