TOLEDO, OH ? Sophomore Molly Cornwell scored two goals and led Toledo to a thrilling 2-1 win against Eastern Michigan in double overtime on Friday afternoon at sunny Scott Park. With today's victory, the Rockets run their school-record winning streak to six straight and improve to 8-2-1 overall, 3-0-0 in the Mid-American Conference.
Cornwell, who now leads the Midnight Blue and Gold with seven goals in only 11 matches this season, registered both goals on penalty kicks, including the game-winner at 103:10.
The Eagles (3-5-2, 1-2-0 MAC) started strong and struck first blood just 8:16 into the match on a score by Maggie Christensen. Teammate Ashley Rodrigues set up the opening tally by beating a UT defender down the sidelines, before crossing the ball into the middle of the UT goal box to Christensen, who promptly placed it into the back of the net.
The Rockets best chance to score in the opening half occurred at 16:25 on a blast by Cornwell, who tied classmate Ali Leak for the team lead with three shots. The Pickerington, OH native dribbled past a pair of EMU defenders and fired a shot on goal, but Eagles' goalkeeper Maggie Manville made a nice stop to keep the score 1-0 at the intermission.
After playing a little tentative in the first 45 minutes, UT came out fired up to start the second half and tied the score on Cornwell's first penalty kick at 52:06. The 2006 second-team All-MAC honoree was tackled in the EMU penalty box by an Eagles defender to set up the equalizer.
The Rockets continued to be the aggressor and nearly took their first lead of the match at 66:13. Senior Suzi Siwinski won a free ball about 35-yards out and made a nice move to create some separation between herself and a defender, before rifling a shot that just slid over the crossbar.
For the remainder of regulation, neither squad mounted much of an attack and the match went to overtime.
In the first 10-minute period, EMU's Christensen had the initial chance for the game-winner at 96:31. She fired a shot from about 15-yards out directly in front of the goal, but UT sophomore netminder Andrea Plewes made the save to continue the contest. Moments later, the Eagles' Rodrigues looked like she had the match won for the visitors, as she ran past the UT defense and Plewes with the ball. Fortunately for the Rockets, she pushed the ball too far in front of her and Toledo sophomore Megan Ginley quickly recovered and cleared it off the line.
In the second overtime off a free kick, Siwinski played the ball deep into Eastern Michigan's goal box. UT's Leak jumped up and headed the ball off the crossbar. The ball bounced directly down from the bar and an EMU defender deflected it off the goaline with her hands. The referee saw the illegal contact and awarded Cornwell and the Rockets the penalty kick, which she converted for the game winner.
Toledo held an 11-5 shot advantage in the match. Plewes totaled two saves for the Rockets to pick up the victory. Manville absorbed the loss for the Eagles, collecting one stop.
The Rockets return to action on Sunday, Oct. 7 when they host Central Michigan. The opening whistle is slated for 1:00 p.m. from Scott Park.
TOLEDO 2, Eastern Michigan 1 (2OT)
EMU: M. Christensen (A. Rodrigues), 8:16
UT: M. Cornwell (Penalty Kick), 52:06
UT: M. Cornwell (Penalty Kick), 103:10
SHOTS: UT 11, EMU 5
CORNER KICKS: UT 2, EMU 5
SAVES: UT 2, EMU 1
FOULS: UT 10, EMU 7
