University of North Florida
Florida Gulf Coast
Ospreys’ A-Sun Battle Goes 0-0 in Overtime
10/11/2009 5:09:58 PM | Women's Soccer
The Ospreys (5-8-2, A-Sun 2-3-1) are now more than half way done with their 2009 season after playing their sixth Atlantic Sun match today.
After giving up four goals last Friday, defense was the Ospreys' focus in Sunday's match. UNF's stringent defense denied the Eagles a goal, which had only been done once before.
“We're still putting the pieces together, and there is always something to improve on,” said head coach Linda Hamilton. “Our conference is incredibly competitive and we dug deep to stay with a very good Florida Gulf Coast team.”
Howard saw ten shots on goal and made nine saves on the day. It was the fourth time in her career as an Osprey to do so.
Most of the Eagles' scoring chances came on their resilience to invoke corner kicks. The Eagles accumulated ten corner kicks compared to the Ospreys' one. FGCU tested UNF's defense and Howard's abilities in goal. The St. Petersburg native made diving stops and punch-outs to keep the score tied at zero.
Howard wasn't the only player to record a save, in a match that saw temperatures up to 91 degrees. Senior midfielder Whitney Colburn made a crucial stop in the 37th minute, off of a second chance shot by Eagle Gina Petracco who played the ball off a deflected save by Howard.
“We had to refocus from last match and concentrate on marking players and staying disciplined on defense, which you could see from Whitney's vital play to keep the match tied.”
Through out the match, UNF showed moments of brilliance with their ball handling and ability to change their point of attack that opened up the Eagles' defensive gaps. Unfortunately, UNF wasn't able take advantage of their holes and trip up FGCU's 3-5-2 defense.
In the final three minutes of the second overtime, UNF showed its nostalgia to score and pushed the ball forward recording their first corner kick of the match.
Sophomore Denisse Soltero placed a good ball up to the middle of the box, but Eagle goalkeeper, Stephanie Powers high pointed the ball to deny the Ospreys' advances.
UNF returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 17, in
