Esposito Heads Sky Blue Past Wildcats
Domenique Esposito (left) jumps into the arms of Fanta
Cooper after scoring her first goal of the night
Robyn McNeil
With her Jersey Sky Blue team struggling to find the back of the net in recent games, Domenique Esposito did her best to get her team headed in the right direction. The Sky Blue midfielder scored both goals with her head in a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Wildcats in a battle between intrastate rivals at Ranger Stadium on the campus of Drew University.
Esposito scored her first two goals of the season as Sky Blue had to come from behind for the victory. The first goal for the River Vale, NJ native came in the 45th minute and allowed Sky Blue to break a string of 249 scoreless minutes in W-League regular season action. Her second came in the 73rd minute to give Sky Blue its first lead since a 3-1 win over the Connecticut Passion on May 17th. With the victory, Sky Blue improves to 3-1-1 while the Wildcats drop to 2-2-1 with their second straight loss.
The Wildcats struck first against the run of play when Kaila Sciascia connected in the ninth minute. Amy Hoyer sent a long ball behind the defense and Sciascia was able to outrun Sky Blue defender Kelly Eagan before slotting a shot toward the lower right corner that keeper Jillian Loyden got a hand on but couldn't keep out of the goal.
Sky Blue nearly responded right away but Michele O'Brien's volley bounded off the bar and out less than two minutes later. Daniela Molina came close for Sky Blue in the 30th minute but the Colombian strikers crack from an angle was just wide.
Esposito came through with perfect timing as she tied the game in the closing seconds of the opening half. Bonnie Young sent a long free kick forward from midfield and Esposito pounded the header past Wildcats keeper Robyn Jones from 12 yards out.
Just four minutes after halftime, Esposito nearly struck again but her chance from the left rolled just past the far post.
Carolyn Blank got behind the Wildcats defense in the 70th minute but was foiled by a great save from Jones. Just three minutes later, Esposito sealed the win when she got on the end of a long cross from the right from Leah Robinson, who had checked in two minutes earlier, and headed home from close range at the far post.
Sky Blue returns to action on Saturday night when it hosts the Connecticut Passion at 7:30 p.m. at Drew University.
|
June 11, 2008 - Ranger Stadium |
1 |
2 |
- |
F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey Wildcats (2-2-1) | 1 | 0 | - | 1 |
| Jersey Sky Blue (3-1-1) | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
LINEUPS
NEW JERSEY WILDCATS: Robyn Jones, Ali Kliment, Amanda Wheeler, Su-Lin DelGuercio (Samantha Germano 63), Michelle Verzi, Lissette Brandão (Jill Camburn 78), Kimberly Lison, Leia Rispoli (Cori Bildstein 67), Amy Hoyer, Aimee Bresani, Kaila Sciascia (Nicole Canning 83).
JERSEY SKY BLUE: Jillian Loyden, Kim Brandão, Bonnie Young, Fanta Cooper, Kelly Eagan, Gina DeMaio, Ashlyn Brantley (Marisa Brown 55), Domenique Esposito, Daniela Molina (Taylor Walsh 76), Carolyn Blank (Leah Robinson 71), Michele O'Brien (Stephanie Peel 88).
GOALS
NJW: Sciascia (Hoyer) 9th minute
JSB: Esposito (Young) 45th minute
JSB: Esposito (Robinson) 73rd minute
STATISTICS
SHOTS
NJW: 6; JSB: 14
SAVES
NJW: 3; JSB: 4
FOULS
NJW: 9; JSB: 14
OFFSIDES
NJW: 3; JSB: 10
CORNERS
NJW: 0; JSB: 7
GAME INFO
CAUTIONS/EJECTIONS
None
REFEREE
Thomas Zablocki
ASSISTANTS
Stan Grabowski
Matthew Wetzel
ATTENDANCE
693