Syracuse and Rhode Island were on the verge of heading to overtime tied at zero, despite SU having dominated play.

Then, in the 89th minute, a Rhode Island player brought down an Orange forward in the box and SU’s Jessica Vigna converted on the ensuing penalty kick.

Behind a strong performance from the defense and goalie Courtney Brosnan, the last-minute gift on the penalty shot was all Syracuse (5-1-1) needed to break through and steal a 1-0 road win.

The Orange outshot the Rams 12-6 (1-3-2) and held an advantage in shots on goal with four to Rhode Island’s three.

Along with smothering the Rhode Island attack, SU’s defense looked dangerous on offense with defender Taylor Bennett continuing to put shots on net via free kicks and Vigna and Maddie Iozzi creating several chances off corner kicks.