Lady Knights Last Minute Heroics Beat Bayhawks 2-1!

10.24.19

Warwick, R.I. – October 24, 2019: The CCRI Lady Knights soccer team traveled to Bristol Community College in Fall River, MA to play the Bayhawks in a Region XXI interleague game and their final regular season match of the season. The Lady Knights defeated the Bayhawks 2-1. With the victory CCRI improves to 7-3-1 overall and 4-0-1 in Region XXI play.

The Lady Knights knew that the Bayhawks had a very good squad as they came into the contest with an impressive 11-2 record with only one loss in Region XXI play vs Holyoke which they avenged later in the season. Bristol also has the NJCAA Division III leading scorer in Alyssa Tortora who came into the match with 42 goals in their 13 games. However, the Lady Knights were up to the task as they overcame a one goal first half deficit by scoring two goals in the final minute to escape with a dramatic 2-1 victory.

The Bayhawks took a 1-0 lead when Alyssa Tortora scored her Nation-leading 43rd goal of the year with five minutes left in the first half to give Bristol a 1-0 lead on their home pitch. Bristol would go into the half with a 1-0 lead over their Division I Region XXI counterpart. The Bayhawks held their lead until the closing moment of the game. With thirty SECONDS remaining in the contest defender Juliana Capraro (Foster, RI) scored an equalizer to even the score 1-1. It was Capraro’s first goal of the year. The Lady Knights would have been happy le escape with a 1-1 draw but after an injury the referee added a minute to the clock and in extra time McKenna Leahy (Warwick, RI) tallied a game winner assisted by Lailah Insisiengmay (Woonsocket, RI) with just FIVE seconds remaining on the match to give the Lady Knights the dramatic 2-1 victory over the top DIII Soccer squad in Region XXI. The goal was Leahy’s team-leading 15th of the season and most important tally to date.

After the great comeback Head Coach Jim McGirr commented: “This was a total team effort in the come from behind win. We dominated the match from start to finish but unfortunately were down 1-0 before halftime due to a rare defensive lapse. At the break we told the players to keep doing what they were doing, the breakthrough would come eventually. Luckily for us the game is 90 minutes long, not 89 minutes, because we left it later than any of us wanted. In the end, all of the hard work the players put in paid off.“

The next match for the Lady Knights will be in the Region XV/XXI Championship match Friday November 1st when they travel to Flowers Park in New Rochelle, NY to play the No. 1 ranked (NJCAA DI poll) Mustangs of Monroe College (8-0) at 1pm.

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The Community College of Rhode Island, New England's largest comprehensive community college, enrolls nearly 15,000 students in credit courses and thousands more in non-credit and job training classes. Its athletic program boasts 12 varsity programs and an academic support program for all student-athletes.