Sept. 4, 2009

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Los Angeles, Calif. - Sophomore Erin Rementer scored in the second overtime to give LMU its only goal and a 1-0 win over Vermont Friday evening at Sullivan Field. This was the first meeting between the two teams and it took two extra periods for the Lions (3-1-0) to get on the scoreboard and defeat the Catamounts (0-1-1) to claim the inaugural East/West Cup sponsored by Courtyard by Marriott Los Angeles Westside.

The Lions dominated the game throughout with a 20-7 shot advantage, but had trouble finishing on good looks at the goal. After 105 minutes of playing, junior Julie Gallaudet dribbled past the defense on the left and found a cutting Rementer inside the six-yard box for the winning goal. Rementer now has two goals this season for the Lions and Gallaudet leads the team in assists with four.

"Soccer is a funny game," said Head Coach Joe Mallia after the win. "The ones that you wouldn't think would go in, sometimes go in. And the ones that should go in, don't."

After a flat start in the first half, the Lions got their legs under them and started making more aggressive plays on the ball. LMU got a lot of good looks at the goal, but Vermont kept the ball out of the net and kept the Lions on the offensive.

LMU, who was playing without junior forward Lily Sorentino, had a well-balanced offensive attack in the first half with 12 shots, while holding the Catamounts to only two shots.

"We created a lot of chances," said Mallia. "We did real well with that. We've been talking about that and working on that a lot in training, but we just didn't put our chances away."

Three of those shots came with under eight minutes to play in the first half as junior Gabrielle Parisella had a shot blocked out of bounds, setting up a corner kick for freshman Kelsey Wilson. Her corner found the head of senior Lacey Bartels but the ball just cleared the crossbar. A few plays later, the Lions had another corner kick by Parisella that set up a shot by Wilson that was blocked by the Catamounts. The good looks at the goal gave the Lions a momentum boost, but still left them scoreless.

The two LMU corner kicks, as well as a second one by Wilson late in the second half, gave the Lions three for the half.

The Lions beat the Catamounts to a lot of loose balls at mid-field with their hustle and strong defense. As the first half came to a close the play got more physical, but the Lions were able to maintain the advantage in ball possession.

Vermont attempted a few long shots in the first half, but the LMU defense kept them from getting any close action to the goal.

LMU came out in the second half with the same intensity, but again couldn't find the goal. Six minutes into the half, Gallaudet had a good look at the goal that just barely missed wide. A few plays later, Gallaudet found herself around the back of the defense with only the goalie to beat but her shot trickled just wide. The junior forward had seven shots in the game to go along with her game-winning assist.

The second half came to a close with neither team on the scoreboard, sending the game into overtime. Overtime saw much of the same play from the Lions, who had a few good looks at the goal but where unable to connect. The Lions and Catamounts continued their play into a second overtime as LMU looked to get on the scoreboard.

The Lions played with a sense of urgency in the second overtime and it paid off with their only goal of the game.

Head Coach Mallia credited Gallaudet's perseverance late in the game as a contributing factor in the win.

"Julie Gallaudet really dug in," said Mallia. "She played almost the whole 105 minutes, but up front she was working her tail off all day."

Senior goalkeeper Allyssa Clark had three saves in the game and notched her third shutout of the season. She now has 11 career shutouts to go with her 13 career goalie wins for LMU.

Mallia was glad to come away with the second home win of the season, but the Lions don't want to settle there.

"We're playing well," said Mallia. "We like the position we're in, but we still have a lot of things we want to continue to work on so we can be even better as we grow throughout the course of the season."

Looking ahead to the Lions' next game, Mallia wants to focus on finishing when they create their opportunities to score. LMU will wrap up their three-game homestand on Sunday when they host the Houston Cougars (0-3-0) at 1 p.m.