Box Score GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women's soccer team rallied twice from a goal down Friday night but didn't have a chance to rally a third time as the Spartans surrendered a goal in the 105th minute of double overtime to fall 3-2 to visiting Loyola-Chicago in the season opener at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. The Spartans will look to bounce back Sunday night when they travel across the Triad to face rival High Point at 7 p.m.
The Spartans had the first chance of the game in the 12th minute after a pair of corner kicks. Senior Ashley Eddleman (Kernersville, N.C./East Forsyth) had the ball come down to here 12-yards out and sent a shot past Loyola goalkeeper Cassidy Lentz, but a Rambler defender was on the goal line to clear the shot off. The rebound came back out and junior Diarra Simmons (Toronto, Ontario/Dayton) had a crack at the rebound from 15-yards out but Lentz was able to thwart the shot to keep the game scoreless.
Loyola-Chicago had its first chance of the game in the 20th minute of action. Jenna Szczesny made a run down the left-hand side and ripped a shot from the top of the 18-yard box but redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Chloe Buehler (Perrysburg, Ohio/Penn State) was there to tip the ball over the cross bar.
The game looked like it was headed into the halftime scoreless but the Ramblers were able to find the back of the net with 17.2 seconds left in the first half. Claire Oberle got the ball in the midfield and made a run through the middle of the UNCG defense. Oberle got a shot off from 20-yards out that got over the outstretched arms of Buehler and into the top corner of the goal for the 1-0 lead at halftime.
The Spartans tied the game up early in the second half. Junior defender Georgia Brown (Queenstown, New Zealand/St. Hilda's Collegiate) won the ball in the back and made a run up the middle before springing senior forward Candice Forbes (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) down the right-hand side. Forbes sent a long cross into the box where it found classmate Zoe Fishman (Woodland Hills, Calif./El Camino Real Charter) on the back post and she volleyed it past Lentz to tie the game at 1-1.
Loyola-Chicago retook the lead in the 73rd minute of play. Avalon Senn-Raemont made a run through the midfield before finding forward Jenna Szczesny at the top of the 18-yard box. Szczesny took her first touch around a defender and shot the ball back across the grain of the goal and into the side netting for a 2-1 advantage.
The Spartans were on the ropes in the closing minutes of regulation before securing the tying goal in the 84th minute of play. Forbes was pushed forward and received the ball 30-yards out from goal. She was able to beat two Rambler defenders and ripped a shot from 25-yards out in the upper corner, knotting the game at 2-2.
UNCG opened the overtime period with all of the momentum and looked like it had won the game in the 97th minute of play off a corner kick. Freshman Dena Cisic (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill) drove a ball to the top of the six-yard box where Eddleman rose above her defender and headed the ball into the back of the net for the presumed game-winning tally. Unfortunately, she was called for a foul and the goal was waved off, giving Loyola-Chicago another chance.
The Ramblers scored the game-winning goal in the 105th minute of action as they took advantage of a fortuitous bounce. Shelby Koch made a run down the right-hand side and sent a cross into the box. Brown and Oberle went to the ground together as a cross came into the box and the ball popped up right to Oberle who was able to poke it into the back of the net for the 3-2 victory.
The Spartans out-shot the Ramblers by an 18-12 margin and held a slim 6-4 edge on corner kicks. Buehler finished the game with four saves in the loss while Lentz made seven saves and was aided by a team save that kept a sure UNCG goal out of the net.
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