OSHAWA, Ont. - The Durham Lords women's soccer team picked up their fourth consecutive win on Friday after they came from behind to beat the St. Lawrence Vikings 3-2 at Vaso's Field.
The opening chance of the game came just six minutes in for St. Lawrence, but first-year defence Shannon Brown (Whitby, Ont.) did well to clear the ball from a dangerous position.
The Vikings had the better of Durham early on as Melissa Gilligan drew close on multiple occasions before she gave the visitors the lead in the 16th minute from the penalty, converting into the bottom left corner.
Lords starting keeper Kerrington Steed (Courtice, Ont.) made several good saves within the same minute; she did well to tip a ball onto the crossbar from a long-range strike. Gilligan was at the centre of the action again for the Vikings when another strike of hers smashed directly off the crossbar.
Despite being on the back foot for most of the half, Durham equalized on the stroke of halftime when Morgan Blaind (Cobourg, Ont.) chipped the goalkeeper and Makayla Rudder (Scarborough, Ont.) ran onto the ball to head home from close range, scoring her fifth goal of the season.
Returning to the field following the break, Cory Lapointe (Whitby, Ont.) almost gave the Lords the lead just 15 seconds into the second half when she was one-on-one with the Vikings keeper, but scuffed her shot just wide of the bottom right corner.
St. Lawrence jumped ahead once again in the 61st minute from Madison Poole, but led for less than 10 minutes when Lapointe equalized in the 70th minute. The speedy forward beat the offside trap, which was causing trouble for the Lords all night long, and tucked her shot into the bottom right corner for her second of the season.
Pressuring back the other way, the Vikings hit the woodwork twice in a matter of seconds; Poole hit the post before Steed tipped the rebound onto the crossbar for a second amazing effort to keep the match tied. Steed finished the night with nine total saves.
The winning goal came in the 80th minute after a corner for the Lords saw veteran defence Bailey Colangelo (Whitby, Ont.) tap home in the aftermath of a goalmouth scramble.
Durham now move ahead of St. Lawrence with 12 points and will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when they host the top team in the East, the Algonquin Thunder. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Overall Record: 5-5-0 (W-L-D)
Conference Record: 4-1-0
Next match: Saturday, Sept. 28 vs. Algonquin Thunder (1 p.m. - Vaso's Field)
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