Washington, D.C. (October 24, 2021)--Mount St. Mary's women's soccer was edged by Howard, 2-1, in overtime in a Northeast Conference matchup on Sunday afternoon at Howard's Greene Stadium.  Maria Buonomo's header in the 72nd minute tied the score to force the extra period.

The Mount (4-12-0, 2-6-0 NEC) and Howard battled to a scoreless first half on Sunday.  The Mount's Elisabeth Rockhill had a pair of long shot scoring attempts early in the first half while Mount goalkeeper Adren Lembryk made a pair of saves on Howard's leading scorer Melea Earley in the opening 25 minutes as well.  The Bison (6-5-2, 5-3-1 NEC) held a 5-to-3 edge in shots in the opening half, including a 3-to-1 margin in shots on target.

The Bison broke through for the first goal of the game in the 50th minute on a nice individual effort from Kyra Bolden.  Bolden broke down the left side of the field, made several moves to get past Mount defenders, and was able to free herself for a shot from 18 yards out that hit the upper right corner of the goal to provide the first goal of the contest.   Lembryk came up with a save just over a minute later, and the Mount's Madison Bee had a shot stopped by Howard goalkeeper Alayah Hightown in the 62nd minute.

The Mount took advantage of a free kick opportunity in the 72nd minute to even the score.  Rockhill took the kick from the near sideline and lofted a beautiful ball to the middle of the box.  Buonomo was able to head home the cross from Rockhill to tie the score at 1-1.  It was the first goal of the season and third in her career for Buonomo, a three-time All-NEC selection on defense.  Rockhill picked up the assist with the cross, giving her seven for the season to match teammate Kalli Bell for the NEC lead.  Howard put the pressure on the the closing minutes, but Lembryk came up with four saves over that span to keep the game deadlocked at 1-1.

The Mountaineers controlled the opening minutes of the overtime period.  Rockhill had a shot stopped in the 95th minute by Hightower, and Bee then collected a through ball and had a chance to secure the win, but her shot went high over the crossbar.  Rockhill had a long shot go just wide of the goal less than a minute later, and then saw her shot carom off the cross bar in the 97th minute.  The rebound went to Isabella Wendler, but her shot was just wide to the left of the goal.

Howard took advantage of the Mount's missed opportunities to score the game-winning goal with 2:30 left in the first overtime period.  The Bison had a free kick that was taken by Thalia Boucher, who sent the ball toward the box where Nyla Allen was able to head the ball over Lembryk for the game-winning score.

Howard held a 17-to-12 advantage in shots in the game, including a 10-to-5 edge in shots on goal.  Rockhill paced the Mount with a game-high five shots while Allen led Howard with four.  Lembryk had eight saves in the game with Hightower picking up four. 

The Mountaineers close out the regular season with road games at Fairleigh Dickinson (Thur., Oct. 28, 4 pm) and Saint Francis U (Sun, Oct. 31, 1 pm).