The women's soccer team played a thrilling game against Bryant on Wednesday night, to the surprise of Brown and Bryant fans alike. With Brown coming into the game with a 4-4-2 record compared to Bryant's 2-7-2, fans may have expected the game to be an easy Brown win, but the game concluded in an anticlimactic 3-3 draw.
The Bears held control of possession during the beginning of the game, but Bryant seemed to control the game's tempo. Brown, who defeated No. 11 Penn State and tied No. 1 UCLA earlier this season, did not appear to put as much effort into beating Bryant.
"This was our weakest performance of the season," said Head Coach Phil Pincince. "We did not bring our A-game."
Brown was put into a hole early when Bryant scored just 18 minutes into the game on a shot from 25 yards out. The visitors controlled the play following the goal and kicked a loose ball into the Bears' net for a 2-0 lead at the 26:27 mark.
Bruno's offense was revitalized, however, when Marybeth Lesbirel '12 entered the game late in the first half. In the 38th minute of the game, tri-captain Lindsay Cunningham '09 sent a pass up the left wing to Lesbirel, who then used her speed and footwork to maneuver around the Bulldogs slower defender and sent a perfectly placed shot off the far post and into the goal.
"Marybeth does a great job of elevating our play," Pincince said.
Fewer than three minutes later, at 41:16, Sarah Hebert-Seropian '12 tied the game at 2-2 with a header into the net directly off a corner kick taken by Gloria Chun '12. The Bears went into halftime with the score tied.
After returning for the second half, it did not take long for Bryant to re-take the lead. Just 46 seconds into the half, Brown committed an own goal. A cross by Bryant was sent into the box and was misread by the Brown defense. The ball hit the leg of a Brown defender and reached the back of the net before goalkeeper, tri-captain Brenna Hogue '10, could get back to the other side.
"A bunch of people half went for it," said Charlotte Rizzi '11. "We didn't listen to our goalie."
Despite this blunder, the Bears' offense was kicking on all cylinders in the second half. They racked up a 13-5 advantage in shots and a 4-0 advantage on corner kicks. The team's offense paid off in the 81st minute of regulation when Brown scored its third goal, when Silvia Stone '11 sent a short throw-in to tri-captain Jamie Mize '09 who gave it right back to Stone. Stone then sent in a cross through the box and Cunningham knocked a header off the far post and into the net. Cunnigham's goal tied the score at 3-3, forcing overtime.
Despite controlling play in overtime, Brown was unable to come away with a win. The team had multiple corner kicks and legitimate scoring attempts by Lesbirel and Chun but shots by both were either deflected or wide of the goal. The second overtime also came to a scoreless end, resulting in a 3-3 draw.
"It was a sub par performance on all counts," Pincince said. "The one bright side is that we came back from 2-0."
"We were a very lucky team tonight," Pincince concluded.
The Bears travel to Princeton on Saturday where they will try to get on the scoreboard early and put an end to the Tiger's five-game winning streak.
