Oct. 20, 2011

Delaware State stunned Utah Valley, 2-1, in GWC women's soccer action on Thursday. It was the first-ever GWC win for the Hornets and only the second Great West regular-season loss for the Wolverines in program history. In other GWC action, Howard defeated NJIT, 2-0.

Delaware State 2, Utah Valley 1

DOVER, Del. - In an emotional night for the Delaware State soccer team as senior Michelle Giorgilli played her last game at Alumni Stadium, DSU pulled out a stunner as they defeated Great West Conference powerhouse Utah Valley, 2-1, for the Hornets' first GWC victory in school history.

Del State, who was previously 0-14-2 in the Great West in the past three seasons, notched its first victory with goals from freshman Chelsea Boursiquot and junior Candace Wyre. The Wolverines won the GWC title in 2009, the conference's inaugural season, and were at the top of the GWC standings going into tonight's match.

"What we take out of this is that belief is such an important part of getting over that hump," commented DSU head coach Nitan Soni. "The girls had a tremendous amount of belief today. There was no doubt on the field that we were going to get every single ball, make perfect passes, hustle, be aggressive and just make the right decisions."

Boursiquot scored the first goal of the night and her third of the season, coming off of a perfect pass from Giorgilli in the 21st minute. The freshman forward received the ball on the right side of the night and shot a missile into the top right corner of the net from about five yards out to take a 1-0 lead.

"Michelle (Giorgilli) played absolutely above herself today," remarked Soni. "Everyone needed to play bigger than ever and that's exactly what she did. Watching somebody who felt like they were 10 times bigger than they actually are, it was just amazing to see the heart and hustle that she has."

With time starting to wind down, UVU received a goal from Kaitlyn Thomas, her fourth on the season, in the 72nd minute. Thomas received the ball from Natalie Young about nine yards out and shot the ball straight on to score right under the top crossbar.

The Hornets responded almost immediately with Wyre's second goal of the season in the 73rd minute.

"That was very characteristic of this team, they never think they're out of it," Soni stated. "Utah Valley scored their goal and you almost wanted to go `oh no, not again,' but they didn't. They just keep playing their hearts out, that's the quality of this team. I'm ecstatic for the girls and for them to feel what it's like to beat a quality Division I team. They got exactly what they deserved."

"In my four years, to see how our team has grown is truly remarkable," Giorgilli, who was Soni's first recruit at DSU, commented. "Our first season was rough, but now we're competing against and defeating teams that have usually beaten us by a ton. It's been awesome to be a part of this team and I'm going to miss it all."

Utah Valley (8-8-1, 3-1-1 GWC) out-shot Delaware State 13-8 overall and 10-5 on goal but Hornet keeper Katelyn Koslosky came up with nine saves to help her team to victory.

With two games left in the regular season, the Wolverines now face NJIT on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET/9 a.m. MT in their final road game. UVU is now in second place in the Great West behind South Carolina State, which sits at 3-0-1 with a game next week at Houston Baptist before the season finale on Oct. 29 in Orem.

The Hornets (2-13-2, 1-3-1 GWC) close out the regular season on Friday, Oct. 29 as they travel to Washington, D.C. to take on the Howard Bison.

Howard 2, NJIT 0

NEWARK, N.J. -- Two second-half goals in a span of less than six minutes lifted visiting Howard past NJIT, 2-0, in Great West Conference women's soccer Thursday evening on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.

Jordan Brown assisted on both Howard goals, which were strikingly similar, except for manner by which they were finished.

Brown, a junior forward who ran hard all night, set up both goals on crossing passes from outside the box on the right wing and about 10 yards shy of the goal line.

Brown's first assist found Cynthia Snyder wide open at the far post and Snyder tapped the cross with her foot into the goal from the doorstep at 56:45. The second assist found Retha Koefoed as open as Snyder had been on the first goal and Koefoed finished the play on a header at 62:03.

The final stat sheet was close, with NJIT holding a slim 8-7 advantage in total shots, while the shots on goal were even at five apiece. NJIT had six corner kicks to one for Howard.

Howard's freshman goalkeeper Kyra Dickinson finished with five saves for her first college shutout (she also played the second half in a 1-0 win at Mount St. Mary's earlier in the season). NJIT's Anna Kornmuller was credit with three goals.

Both Howard goals were preceded by good chances for the Highlanders. With the game still scoreless, Mariam Bestawros broke free down the middle for NJIT in the 52nd minute, but her shot from 10 yards out sailed just over the crossbar. Snyder scored for Howard less than five minutes later.

Howard's Dickinson made the best save of the night in the 62nd minute, denying NJIT the equalizer with a diving stop of a hard shot by Meryl Hershfield, who received a crossing pass from Gechi Ukaegbu. The Bison scored their insurance goal seconds after that.

Howard (3-11-1, 2-3 GWC) has plenty of experience playing close games, as seven of its first 14 contests were decided in overtime and only two of the 14 previous opponents managed more than two goals against the Bison in regulation.

"They finished their chances and we didn't," said NJIT coach Sergio Gonzalez. "We put some dangerous balls in the box and didn't finish. We did a good job, for the most part, limiting their chances, except for those two opportunities. And they finished both."

The Highlanders (2-13, 1-3 GWC) have three regular season contests remaining, with the next one in the home finale on Saturday at 11 am against Great West Conference-leading Utah Valley on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium. The Bison will host Delaware State on October 28 to close out their regular season.

After Saturday, NJIT will visit North Dakota on October 27 and Houston Baptist on October 29, before returning home to host the Great West Conference postseason tournament from November 4-7.