Brockport saw their 2-0 halftime lead melt away before senior Brianna Judd scored with 90 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Blue Devils defeat Brighton 3-2 in girls’ soccer.
The Blue Devils took an early 1-0 lead 5:50 into the contest as Judd fed a pass to sophomore Emily Parker whose first two shots were blocked before she was finally able to put the third into the back of the net.
Brockport had a great chance in the 31st minute as junior Bryn Hayes fed her right corner kick to the foot of Samantha Rogers, whose redirect attempt skipped just wide of the left post.
In the 32nd minute, the Blue Devils extended their lead to 2-0. Parker shot from just above the box deflected off the Brighton goalkeeper’s hands and dribbled toward the goal line where Leah Daly pushed it across for the goal.
But Brighton came storming back with two goals less than eight minutes apart in the second half as they connected on a cross and later a homerun pass up the middle.
That led to the late heroics. Senior Natalie Gluck raced down the left wing and sent a pass toward the middle that Hayes let go by right to Judd and the top of the box and she made no mistake for the game-winning goal.
“I knew I needed to get a goal,” Judd said. “I had several chances but sent everything to the long side; the team needed it.
“We went into the second half thinking we had it (the game) won. We had to get our intensity back; we needed to do that earlier rather than wait until we were tied.”
“We were a little panicked at the end,” Brockport head coach Matt Davis said. “They put one more player up top, which made it tough for our girl’s to figure out.”
Senior goalkeeper Mckenzie Melohusky, starting due to an injury, made 12 saves before she was shaken up on the last Brighton goal and was removed for junior varsity call-up Victoria Lesniak, who played the final 15 minutes and earned the win.
