October 25, 2012
STAYING ALIVE WITH DEAD BALLS
Stony Brook women use free, corner kicks to win America East quarterfinal

DURHAM, N.H. - The Stony Brook women scored two goals off set pieces to defeat No. 3 New Hampshire, 2-1, in Thursday's America East quarterfinal matchup.

Senior Sa'sha Kershaw (Baltimore, Md.) scored on a free kick in the eighth minute, before junior Larissa Nysch (Dresher, Pa.) headed home a cross off a corner kick some 14 minutes later.

"We're very proud of this team, coming up here and winning in a tough place to play," Stony Brook coach Sue Ryan said. "New Hampshire is a good team and they came to play today, but so did we. A lot of credit should go to our upperclassmen, including Sa'sha [Kershaw] for getting that early goal and also Ashley [Castanio] for stopping a penalty kick. We came here with one goal in mind, and that was to beat New Hampshire, so we're happy to be advancing on to play Maine."

The Seawolves (10-6-3) will head to Orono, Maine to face No. 2 Maine in the semifinals at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Stony Brook defeated Maine during the regular season, 5-1, on Oct. 11.

Stony Brook (10-6-3) opened the scoring in the eighth minute when UNH was whistled for a handball just outside the penalty area. Kershaw stepped up for the free kick and drilled a low, hard shot through the wall and off the goalkeeper's fingertips for a 1-0 lead.

The Seawolves doubled the lead through Nysch in the 22nd minute. Freshman Stella Norman (Castle Rock, Colo.) took a corner from the right flag and Nysch met the ball with a powerful header in the center of the box for her eighth goal of the year.

Tara Fraprie pulled a goal back for the Wildcats (5-12-2) with 1:07 remaining in the first half. Drea Nogueira touched the ball into the right corner for Jenna Shaddock, who swung a cross into the box for Fraprie to volley home from close range.

New Hampshire held a 27-12 edge in shot attempts.

Seawolves keeper Ashley Castanio (Oceanside, N.Y.) made nine saves and earned her 10th win.