Women’s Soccer Upset by Dowling in ECC Semifinal

By Eirik Bjorno

The women’s soccer team held the top seed in the East Coast Conference going into the playoffs. But the Pioneers fell to the number four seed, Dowling College, in the semifinal on Friday, November 2 at Golden Lion Field, Brookhaven, relocated due to Hurricane Sandy.

The women’s soccer team had a great season , and claimed the number one spot in the conference, and earned the right to host the ECC Playoffs. Due to Hurricane Sandy, the soccer fields at LIU Post were not in good enough shape for the tournament to be played at the Pioneers’ home field, and the back up plan, both for the men and the women’s soccer teams, was to choose Golden Lion Field, at Dowling College as their home field for the playoffs.

The Golden Lions used 17 minutes to put the first ball behind senior goalkeeper Nicole Fierro, as Alexandria Abruzzo headed a corner kick into the left corner. Dowling continued to pressure the Pioneers, and doubled the lead after 39 minutes when Lindsey Thompson broke away from the Pioneers defense and scored from 15 yards out. Neither teams managed to score again before halftime, and Dowling went into half-time with a solid 2-0 lead.

The Pioneers gained momentum right from the get-go in the second half, when freshman Susanne Vistnes scored her 19th goal of the season only 2 minutes into the half. Vistnes brought the ball down inside the box, and scored with a clinical finish into the lower left corner.

Dowling played good defense to deny the Pioneers another proper shot on goal, as they won the game 2-1, outshooting the Pioneers 19-10.

Vistnes was devastated after the loss: “I’m really disappointed. We worked hard and tried our best, but today it was not really good enough. I really wanted to reach the conference championship game,” said Vistnes.