Rhode Island (1-0)
Starters: Eden (GK), Gilbert, Penny, Samalonis, Name, MacDonald, Rosenfeld, Rice, Poon, Camacho, Jacobs
Substitutes: Carstensen, Sylvester, Salvagni, White, Steinbach, O'Neill

Le Moyne (0-1)
Starters: McPheron (GK), Calle, Sylstra, Courcy, Cookingham, Vigliotti, LeBlanc, Pietrzak, Casey, Cutuli, Adigun
Substitutes: Day, Brown, Barhoumi, Gilhooly, Lathrop, Gironda

Scoring Summary
66:49 - LM - Lathop (Bown)
74:34 - URI - Sylvester (Poon, Camacho)
85:16 - URI - Poon (MacDonald, Samalonis)

How it Happened
Courtney Poon lined a cross into the back of the net in the 86th minute to lift Rhode Island to a 2-1 victory over Le Moyne in the season opener for both sides Thursday.

Set up by Lauren MacDonald and Kyra Samalonis, Poon cut through the middle of the box and beat Le Moyne keeper Mikayla McPheron to the ball. The goal capped a late rally by Rhody, which trailed 1-0 in the 75th minute despite carrying most of the action for the night.

Le Moyne broke through in the 67th minute when Ella Lathrop lofted a shot into the upper corner, just over the leap of URI keeper Chelsea Mohammed. Finley Brown assisted on the shot.

Rhody evened things up when McKenna Sylvester slipped a shot into the lower corner. Taking a pass from Courtney Poon in traffic, Sylvester turned and sent a left-footed shot inside the far post.

Both teams had three shots on goal in the opening half, though Rhode Island had more quality chances. The Rams nearly broke through in the fifth minute when a Courtney Poon header off a corner kick from Kyra Samalonis went off the bottom of the crossbar. Minutes later, Cierra Penny lined a shot from well outside the box that Le Moyne keeper Mikayla McPheron had to tip over the bar.

McPheron stayed busy in the 12th minute. Poon fed Lauren MacDonald down the right side, and MacDonald threaded a ball through the box to Kaia Rice for a one-timer, but McPheron smothered the shot attempt.

Rhody keeper Dani Eden kept the match scoreless in the 39th minute. Le Moyne's Finley Brown got to a ball in the middle of the box, but Eden dove to her right to knock the shot away. Rhody's Claire O'Neill fired a low shot on target with 20 seconds left in the half, but again McPheron came up with the stop to keep the match tied.

Inside the Box Score

• Junior Courtney Poon's goal was the fifth of her career, while senior McKenna Sylvester got the first of her career.
• Rhode Island outshot Le Moyne 21-9, including an 8-5 edge in shots on goal
• URI keepers Dani Eden and Chelsea Mohammed split the duties in net. Eden made her second career start and made three saves in the first 45 minutes. Mohammed made one save while getting credit for the victory.
• Transfers Lily Camacho (Seton Hall) and Nika Jacobs (Iowa State) started in their Rhode Island debut.
• Freshman Audra Salvagni made her collegiate debut, entering on defense in the 30th minute. Classmate Natalie White joined her on the back line in the 35th minute.
• Freshman forward Claire O'Neill was the third Ram to make her collegiate debut when she entered in the 40th minute. She managed a shot on net in the first half.
• Rhode Island won its season opener for the first time since 2019.

Up Next
The Rams hit the road to play at Maine on Sunday, Aug. 17 at 12 p.m. The match is scheduled to be streamed on AmericaEast.tv.