Schneider Goal Leads UAlbany Women's Soccer to Open America East Play with 1-1 Draw at UMBC

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BALTIMORE – The UAlbany women's soccer team nearly pulled off a road win to begin conference play, outshooting UMBC 22-8, but had to settle for a 1-1 draw in Baltimore on Sunday afternoon.

For UAlbany (5-5-1, 0-0-1 AE), it is the first time the Great Danes earned a least a point in their America East opener since 2009.

"We created a lot of opportunities in the game today, but unfortuately we didn't put the game away," said UAlbany head coach Caitlin Cucchiella. "At the end of the day, we are happy to get a point on the road, and we will start to prepare for Binghamton."

UAlbany outshot UMBC (2-7-2, 0-0-1 AE) 17-2 after the first half of play.  Alexa Schneider scored UAlbany's goal in the 76^th minute, her fourth goal of the season, with Destinee Morris netting the equalizer two minutes later.  Each goal was unassisted.

Alana Brennan played all 110 minutes in goal for UAlbany with one save, while her counterpart on UMBC, Jen Nance, had eight saves.

UMBC attacked in the opening minute with a quick strike from Amanda Dailey, with Brennan making the save.  The Retrievers kept firing away in the following minutes, with two shots missing above the crossbar.

UAlbany pushed into the offensive third in the 12^th and 13^th minutes, earning a couple of corner kicks, but neither resulted in shots.

In the 20^th minute, UAlbany knocked back a UMBC corner kick back to its original spot.  Alexa Quaranta tried to kick the ball back to the goal; the shot was blocked and UAlbany held.  UAlbany countered as Caroline Kopp off the back line got off a shot, with Nance knocking the ball out of bounds.  UAlbany got a corner kick out of the chance, but did not get a shot off.

Krista Fitzpatrick nearly put UAlbany ahead just into the 31^st minute on a hard shot, with Nance again getting the ball out of bounds.  UAlbany got a corner out of it, but did not result in a shot.

Schneider for UAlbany and Gabby Boehmer each put shots towards the cage in the closing minutes, but missed high.  The two sides went into the half tied at 0-0.

Into the second half, UAlbany got the first chance in the 53^rd minute off a corner from Fitzpatrick.  The ball curled to an open Leanne Miller for the header, with a UMBC defender blocking the shot.  Neither side was able to get an attempt off for many minutes afterwards.

UAlbany attacked in the 67^th minute as Fitzpatrick sent a corner kick towards Kelly Kempf, who missed her shot wide of the post.  After the goal kick, Vivian Vega took a shot after getting the ball, with Nance making the save.  Vega got another chance two minutes later, with her shot being blocked.

In minute 71, Fitzpatrick took another UAlbany corner kick.  UAlbany looked for Savanah Courtney for the chance, with her shot missing wide.

UAlbany took the lead in the 76^th minute as Schneider took the ball from just over midfield.  She pushed towards the box, going around a defender and shooting, netting the ball inside the right post for the goal, giving UAlbany a 1-0 lead.

UMBC responded two minutes later with a goal from Morris to tie up the game at 1-1.

UAlbany nearly took back the lead on two occasions in the closing minutes of regulation, with a Caitlyn Paltsios header off a corner kick slamming the crossbar, and a shot in the final minute by Kiana Rugar being saved by Nance.  The two sides went into overtime.

Near the end of the first overtime period, Schneider almost put her second goal into the net in the 99^th minute, with her shot being stopped by the UMBC keeper.  The two teams prepared for a second overtime.

UAlbany dominated the second overtime period, keeping the ball in its offensive third nearly the entire time.  The Great Danes picked up four corner kicks in the period, connecting to players on all crosses.  Two missed and two were saved, the final Nance stopped Courtney's header.  A final chance for UAlbany came on Kempf's shot in the 109^th minute, which missed wide.  The clock expired as UAlbany and UMBC finished tied at 1-1.

UAlbany returns to the Capital District for its America East home opener on Thursday, October 1^st when the Great Danes take on Binghamton at 7 p.m. at Bob Ford Field.