N  I  A  G  A  R  A       G  A  Z  E  T  T  E        niagara-gazette.com

Published: September 06, 2009 11:49 pm  

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Raepple nets two as NU wins again

LEWISTON — Jamie Raepple insists it’s “an honor” to start during her freshman season on a Niagara University women’s soccer team she considers deep and strong.

Through three games, her Purple Eagle teammates feel pretty honored to have her.

Raepple scored twice on Sunday — giving her four goals in her first three collegiate starts — to lift the Purple Eagles to a 3-1 victory in front of 402 fans at Niagara Field.

The Grand Island product got both her goals before halftime, the first just 81 seconds into the contest, as Niagara improved to 2-1 in non-league action. She did so while many of her former Grand Island teammates sat in uniform in the field’s bleachers.

But what’s surprising is that Raepple’s head coach, while thrilled with the early production, thinks there’s more on the horizon.

“Jamie’s playing well, but I don’t think we’ve seen the best of her yet,” NU coach Peter Veltri said. “Anytime you have a freshman who comes in and plays a lot of minutes there’s an adjustment period and she’s still working through that. I still think there’s a better player to come. But so far, so good. We’re excited for the next four years.”

Raepple started the scoring on assist from Laura Kimoto and Chiara Greco, but the lead didn’t last long. Just over a minute later, Cornell’s Sidra Bonner evened things with a header.

Raepple added her fourth of the season in the 24th minute, splitting a pair of Big Red defenders for what proved to be the decisive goal. She also scored the game-winner in the season-opening victory over Colgate.

“I never expected to do this well,” she said. “I’ve worked my hardest and I guess that’s paying off, but I didn’t expect this.”

In the second half, Niagara’s Greco finished off a three-point afternoon with some quick thinking. After a free kick was awarded just outside the box, Greco noticed that Cornell’s defense was slow in setting up a wall. When the Big Red goalie moved to one side of the net, Greco kicked it into the empty half of the net for some insurance.

“She’s a fifth-year senior out there and that’s where the experience shows,” Veltri said.

As for the opening to the season, Veltri said he’s content with the 2-1 record, but a loss to Robert Morris — a team Niagara expected to beat — puts a slight damper on the wins.

“We’re happy with the two victories. Unfortunately, we lost the one we thought was going to be the easy one,” he said. “We’re happy that we’re 2-1, but we feel like we should be 3-0. But you’ve got to put that stuff behind you and go forward.”