Danbury, CT:  After more than 77 minutes of scoreless play, Western Connecticut State University sophomore Valerie Lupo (New Fairfield, CT) pounced on a rebound in front of the goal and banged it home to give the Colonials a 1-0 overtime victory over visiting Ramapo College Wednesday night at the Westside Athletic Complex.

Ramapo, led by forward Amanda Barretta (Roseland, NJ), controlled much of the action to start the first half of play, but WestConn's defense didn't allow the Roadrunners to take a shot until more than 30 minutes had been played. At intermission, both teams had managed only one shot and the score remained tied at 0-0.

Ramapo came out firing to start the second half, but back to back saves by WestConn goalkeeper Heather Stone (Valhalla, NY) in the second minute of play kept the game scoreless. The momentum then shift to WestConn and the Colonials began to repeatedly attack the Ramapo defense, outshooting the Roadrunners 5-1 for the remainder of the second half. After 70 minutes of play the score remained tied 0-0.

In overtime, Ramapo seemed poised to take the victory when it was awarded a penalty shot after less than three minutes of play, but Samantha Gardner's (Frankfort, NJ) shot found the middle of Stone's chest pad, and the game remained scoreless. The play leading to Lupo's game-winning goal began when WestConn as awarded a penalty corner. Senior Stephanie Szafran (Killingworth, CT) took the corner and passed the ball outside the arc to sophomore Deanne Mastrocola (Goshen, CT). Mastrocola quickly moved the ball back inside the circle to Szafran. Szafran managed to avoid two Ramapo defenders, but her shot deflected off the goalkeeper to the right, directly in front of Lupo. Before the keeper could recover, Lupo punched the ball into the goal giving WestConn a thrilling 1-0 victory.

For the game, WestConn held an 8-7 advantage in shots, while each team earned five penalty corners. Stone had five saves to earn the win for WestConn, and Ramapo's Rebecca Elliot (Brick, NJ) recorded four saves in a losing effort.

The Roadrunners return to action on Saturday when they host Castleton State College at 2:00 PM in their home opener.