WOMEN'S SOCCER TOPPED BY DOWLING IN ECC ACTION, 1-0

Box Score vs. Dowling - September 17, 2011

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Sept. 17, 2011) - Freshman goalie Nicole DellaPorta (North Babylon, N.Y.) made a season-best nine saves on Saturday, but it did not get the job done as the Molloy College women's soccer team lost against Dowling College by a decision of 1-0 in its East Coast Conference opener at the Dean G. Skelos Sports Complex in Rockville Centre, N.Y. The defeat now puts the Lions at 2-3 overall and 0-1 in league play. As for the Golden Lions, they fell to 4-2 and 2-0 in the ECC.

During the first half, DellaPorta was solid, stopping all seven shots on goal that she faced. Offensively, Molloy managed just a pair of shot attempts - neither of which got to the net. Just seven minutes into the contest, junior forward Nicole Valentine (Massapequa, N.Y.) had her chance blocked. Later on, sophomore midfielder/forward Allison Sloper (Williston Park, N.Y.) attempted to put the Lions ahead. However, the Williston Park native's shot sailed high of the frame.

Following a slow start to the latter half, Dowling got on the board first with over 20 minutes to go. Junior midfielder Gabrielle D'Aprile (Patchogue, N.Y.) put a free kick toward the net off a re-start from the left flank. Senior midfielder Karen Endresen (Bergen, Norway) then headed the ball past DellaPorta for the 1-0 cushion, which proved to be all the visitors needed.

Sloper and Valentine registered one more shot apiece the rest of the way, but their attempts were blocked, and high of the net, respectively. DellaPorta's counterpart, freshman keeper Melissa Guglielmo (West Babylon, N.Y.) made no saves for the Golden Lions in a shutout effort. Overall, Dowling held a 14-7 advantage in shots and a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.

Head Coach Danny Longo and his women's squad are back in action on Monday (Sept. 19) when Molloy starts up a two-game road trip in Waterbury, Conn. at Post University. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.