University of North Florida
Jacksonville -- "Senior Night"
Women’s Soccer Falls to Jacksonville in Overtime on Senior Night, 3-2
10/22/2010 10:13:44 PM | Women's Soccer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite a thrilling second half comeback, the North Florida women's soccer team dropped its second consecutive match as it fell to crosstown rival Jacksonville, 3-2, in overtime Friday on Senior Night at Hodges Stadium. After the day, the Ospreys fall to 7-10 overall and 6-4 in conference play.
“Jacksonville is a good team and we scored a couple of great goals tonight,” head coach Linda Hamilton said. “I thought the team showed incredible resilience in the way they fought back in the second half. It's important for us to put this one behind us and get ready for the tournament. It's all or nothing now. We've had a great year, but we really have to get ready to earn it again.”
Jacksonville's Liz Fink added her seventh goal of the season in the 28th minute to send the Dolphins up 2-0 heading into the locker rooms for halftime.
The Ospreys fought its way back, however, scoring two goals in the second half to ignite the crowd – a season-high 581 fans turned out for the annual SunTrust “River City Rumble Battle of the Barrel” contest.
Freshman forward Carolina Lencina got the Ospreys on the board first in the 63rd minute off a magnificent assist from sophomore forward Michelle Larrinaga. It was Lencina's first goal since Oct. 8 and sixth of the year and Larrinaga's first helper of the season.
The forward duo found each other again with just 5:37 left to play in regulation when Larrinaga connected on a Lencina helper for her fourth goal of the year. Lencina tallied her fifth assist this season on the play.
The final whistle was heard 5:01 into the first overtime as Jacksonville's Courtney Conrad beat freshman goalkeeper Megan Dorsey one-on-one for her fifth goal this year.
The Ospreys' defense continued to limit opponents opportunities to score, allowing just eight shots to North Florida's 13 tonight. Only three of North Florida's 17 opponents this year have been able to outshoot the Ospreys. Over the last 14 matches, North Florida has at least equaled its opponents in shots taken and outshot opponents in 11 of those 14.
With the loss, North Florida locks down the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament and will host the No. 6 seed Stetson at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30.
