Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

At Right: Stephanie Rinschler celebrates
with teammates following her game-tying goal.

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware women’s soccer team battled through its fourth double-overtime game of the season to tie visiting James Madison University, 1-1, at Delaware Mini-Stadium on Friday night.

Both the goals scored by Delaware (4-3-4 overall, 1-1-3 CAA) and James Madison (7-5-1 overall, 3-1-1 CAA) came late in the second stint of play after holding one another to a scoreless deadlock for more than 83 minutes.

Though the pair of teams were competitive in the first period of the Colonial Athletic Association match, it was in the second 45 that play truly flourished.

Delaware's Ilyssa Friedman chanced breaking the stalemate at 61:37 on a UD corner kick. Senior Caitlyn Germain placed a serve on goal that Friedman all but capitalized upon as the junior defender connected with the ball and headed it just high of the crossbar, leaving the game at 0-0.

The Dukes outshot the Hens by a 7-6 margin in the second, and managed the first score. At 83:36 senior forward Corky Julien gathered a loose ball in the center of the field and dribbled between a pair of Hens’ defenders before firing a shot from 15 yards out. The shot dashed past Blue and Gold keeper Annie Bevan and into the far left corner of goal.

Hungry for revenge, the Hens wasted little time before answering back. Delaware marched down the field and fought a cluster in front of the goal before tying the game merely 1:23 after the Dukes found the back of the net.

Friedman connected with a falling ball and redirected it to sophomore Stephanie Rinschler. The midfielder laced a shot to the open, right-side of goal bringing the Hens’ crowd to its feet.

The squads played out the final minutes of regulation before entering the duo of sudden-victory overtime periods.

Much of the play in the extra sessions was back-and-forth as the game grew slower and struggled for energy in the final minutes. JMU outshot Delaware, 3-0, in the first 10 minutes, though both attempted two shots in the final 10.

“I’m extremely proud of the work ethic displayed tonight,” praised veteran head coach Scott Grzenda. “The squad was tough all game. Not one head dropped after the JMU goal and I’m very impressed with how we came back to score.

“It was an epic type of battle,” Grzenda concluded. “There will be a lot of sore players tomorrow ... they left it all out on the field tonight.”

Bevan tallied four saves in goal for the Hens, while JMU’s keeper, Diane Wszalek, stopped three.

UD’s four ties thus far in 2009 is the most since the Hens knotted four in 2005 with a final record of 10-6-4 overall.

Delaware will return to CAA action on Sunday, Oct. 11 when it hosts Virginia Commonwealth at 1 p.m.

AGATE:

Old Dominion....0....1....0....0........1
Delaware............0....1....0....0........1

Scoring Summary: First Half: None; Second Half: JMU - Corky Julien - 83:36, UD - Stephanie Rinschler (Ilyssa Friedman) - 84:59; First Overtime: None; Second Overtime: None; Shots: UD - 10, JMU - 18; Corner Kicks: UD - 2, JMU - 9; Saves: UD - 4 (Annie Bevan 4), JMU - 3 (Diane Wszalek 3); Fouls: UD - 17, ODU 16; Offsides: UD - 2, ODU - 2.