ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Roberts Weselyan College women's soccer coach Sarah McClellan greeted her team with four words following Saturday's East Coast Conference match against Saint Thomas Aquinas College at Roberts Stadium.
"Welcome to conference play," McClellan told her unbeaten squad.
And what a welcome it was.
Freshman Kara Choate scored the winning goal on a breakaway with 1:38 remaining as Roberts (5-0, 1-0 ECC), which had not trailed in a match all season, came from behind twice to defeat the Spartans 3-2 on a glorious afternoon.
The play began with a Roberts goal kick and, after a couple of touches, junior midfielder Gabrielle Ciambella's header from the Redhawks' side of the center circle split the defense and sent Choate in alone.
"My heart was racing, I was so excited," said Choate, who scored her second goal of the season. "When I saw the goalie keep out, I knew that I had to make a move around her and put it in."
"That took a lot of composure and she delivered," McClellan said. "It was perfect."
Freshmen Lillian Dickson and Ella White also scored for Roberts, which has now won 12 consecutive regular-season games dating back to last season.
"We have a saying, 'No one flies alone,'" White said. "When we are down, we pull together and it all comes together and works out."
The Redhawks fell behind early as Natalie Oden poked in a rebound for STAC (1-4, 0-1) in the ninth minute.
Roberts applied steady pressure throughout the first half and was finally rewarded when Dickson corralled a loose ball and drilled a left-footed shot into the right corner of the net from 25 yards away to tie the game with 7.5 seconds remaining before intermission.
Cassidy Pearce played a long ball at midfield to start the play for Roberts. A STAC defender touched the ball at the top of the box and it bounced out to Dickson, who placed it into the back of the net for her first college goal.
"I knew that we were down, I knew that time was running out and I just thought that it would be a good idea to shoot it and it went in," Dickson said.
STAC regained the lead on a free kick by Heidi Torre in the 56^th minute.
Roberts showed more resilience and leveled the game again. Larissa Johnston was taken down in the box to draw a penalty kick. And, for the second week in a row, White stepped to the line in the second half and delivered. After going off the right post last week, she placed a perfect shot into the left corner with 21:26 to play.
The Redhawks continued to generate scoring chances in the final minutes, eventually leading to Choate's winner.
"We just didn't give up," Dickson said. "We knew that we had to keep fighting and fighting because we didn't want to lose."
Roberts returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 18 for an ECC match at Lincoln (Pa.) University.