September 15, 2007

BRYANT WOMEN'S SOCCER KNOCKS OFF UMASS LOWELL 1-0

Alex DiPippo scored the game-winner in Bryant's 1-0 win over UMass Lowell Saturday. www.dspics.com

LOWELL, MA (Sept. 15, 2007) - Sophomore midfielder Alex DiPippo (Shelton, CT) scored the lone goal in the 86th minute as No. 4 Bryant University women's soccer team defeated UMass Lowell, 1-0, Saturday afternoon at Cushing Field. With the win, Bryant improves to 7-0-2 overall and 4-0-1 in the Northeast-10.  UMass Lowell slips to 5-3 (1-3 NE-10) on the season.

The Bulldogs out-shot UML, 22-6 overall and 12-4 on target and elicited some stellar saves by UML goalkeeper Jamie Gillis, who stopped 11 shots. Junior Jessica Clark (Barnstable, MA) had four saves for Bryant.

DiPippo's goal came off a cross by senior Tricia Spada (Dedham, MA), in which she settled and struck inside the left post from just above the penalty area. The Bulldogs had several chances earlier to open the scoring. In the ninth minute, Senior Stephanie Zalewski (Parsippany, NJ) sent in a cross from the right corner just inside the six-yard box which somehow eluded both Spada and senior Diane Pascale (Plymouth, MA), who were in the area.

In the 20th minute, the River Hawks seemingly had a goal when freshman D Ella Merullo crossed to senior Tanekar Alexander, who flicked to sophomore Kelly Soper. Soper's shot from just outside the six-yard box curled right and Clark was able to backtrack and smother the attempt thanks to the hustle from sophomore defender Molly Wallace (Sandwich, Mass.) who was able to keep the ball out of the net and get it to the Bulldog netminder.  

Bryant had two chances in the early minutes of the second half. Junior Amy Orzechowski (Milford, CT) struck the right corner of the bar from the top of the box in the 52nd minute and Gillis snuffed a volley from Zalewski just outside the six-yard box in the 58th.

The Bulldogs will return to action this Wednesday, hosting Southern NH at 3 p.m.