Posted: Oct 22, 2011
HERKIMER, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Women's Soccer Team (7-7-1, 6-3-1 NEAC) played Cazenovia (5-10-2, 5-4-2 NEAC) to a tie on Saturday, 0-0 in double-overtime. It was senior day for the Wildcats, as veterans Nicole DiNitto (Oriskany, N.Y. / Oriskany), Kelley Waskiewicz (Oriskany, N.Y. / Oriskany), Caitlin Cottell (Eaton Town, N.J. / Red Bank Catholic), Katie Wilday (Galway, N.Y. / Galway), and Amanda Myers (Boonville, N.Y. / Adirondack) were honored at halftime.
SUNYIT was not without chances, holding a 22 to 8 shots advantage over Cazenovia on the day. Senior star DiNitto handled a 50-50 ball well at 58:00 and got a rocket shot off, but it was right at the keeper. A little while later at 70:00, a scuffle in front of the goal gave SUNYIT what appeared to be a couple good chances, however when the dust settled Cazenovia keeper Nalia Bouley was on the ground with the ball.
The Wildcats best chance, though, came with just 7:15 remaining in the game, when sophomore Abbey Hanehan (Stillwater, N.Y. / Stillwater) dribbled through two defenders, set up, and blasted a shot from 20 feet in front of the goal. Unfortunately, the shot missed just high.
The only real highlight of the extra periods was goalie Aubrey Campbell (Auburn, N.Y. / Auburn) potentially saving the game with a fantastic catch on a well-kicked ball from right in front of her.
The tie for the Wildcats certainly felt more like a loss, as Head Coach Tyler Renaud shook his head after the game, remarking, "I thought we had the better of play – they're quick in the back which really posed a problem for us, but the chances we had…we needed to find a way to put it in the back of the net and that just didn't happen for us today."
Nonetheless, Renaud was very complimentary of his five seniors:
"What a great group: Amanda and Katie both took a year off but came back with great attitudes and helped us a lot. DiNitto is just a total impact player all-around; Caitlin Cottell did a great job of understanding her role this year and really helping the team when she got in there, and as far as I can see Kelley Waskiewicz is probably having the best year of anybody with her play and her tenacious defense."
SUNYIT will return to the field to play at SUNY ESF on Monday. Game time is set for 4:00 pm.
