Nashua, NH - In a tightly played match against St. Joseph's College (ME), it was the Rivier College Raiders who were able to get the ball to bounce their way as the women's soccer team defeated the Monks 1-0 in a thrilling overtime win.  Freshman Kaitlyn Souza (Wilmington, MA) had the game winning goal when classmate Morgan Greene (Acworth, NH) played a ball from just inside of midfield that cleared the heads of the defenders.  Souza was able to outrun the defense to get to the ball first a chipped it past the goal keeper for the over time win.

Rivier goal keeper Christine Surber (Langdon, NH) recorded 7 saves to keep the home team in the game and give them a chance for the win.  The Monks rattled off 7 shots on goal and 11 shots overall, compared to only 4 shots on goal and 9 overall for the Raiders. 

In the first half, Surber made 3 saves, while her counterpart Jacqueline Lorenzen (Windham, ME) only faced 1, but the Raiders did have opportunities to score as Rivier outshot the Monks in the first half 6-3, one of those shots, by Greene, hit the crossbar, but that's as close as the Raiders could get.

After halftime, St. Joseph's came out with a little more sense of urgency.  the Monks played most of teh half in teh Raider zone, getting off 7 total shots and forcing Surber to make yet another 3 saves, all of which made Surber work hard, diving to her left and punching a high shot over the crossbar.  The one shot the Raiders got off was early in the half, and the Monks goal keeper was able to make the save.

When the overtime period commenced, it looked as though St. Joseph's wasn't about to let Rivier play any offense as the first 5 minutes were played in the Rivier zone. St. Joseph's Ashley Beaulieu (Durham, ME) was able to get the first shot of the overtime period on goal and Surber again had to make the stop.  6:02 into the period, the Raiders were finally able to get a chance as they got down field and freshman Rebecca Wickens (Tyngsboro, MA) got a shot on goal that, of course, was saved.  However, with the ball in the Monks zone, the Raiders were able to capitalize.  When Lorenzen kicked out the ball after the save, Greene was able to control the kick and dribble back toward the Monks end, she lofted the ball over the defense and in front of the keeper where Souza was able to track it down.  After three dribbles of the ball, Souza chipped the ball past the right side of Lorenzen for the game winning goal.

The win improves the Raiders to 6-4-1 overall and 2-2-1 in GNAC play, while the Monks fall to 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the GNAC. 

The Raider will be on the field again tomorrow, Sunday, Oct.3, as they travel to St. Joseph College (CT) for anther GNAC match-up.  Meanwhile, the Monks will play next on Wednesday, Oct. 6 when they travel to Johnson & Wales in Providence, RI.