Box Score
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 25, 2009) – For 82 minutes, the Vassar College women's soccer team succeeded in the difficult task of holding No. 5 William Smith College scoreless. However, the Herons finally broke through in the 83rd minute as junior BreLynn Nasypany headed in a cross from freshman Renee Jensen to give William Smith a 1-0 win in the Liberty League opener for both teams at Gordon Field on Friday.
The Brewers fall to 3-4, 0-1 and will look to return to .500 when they host Hamilton College on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Herons improve to 5-2, 0-1 and will travel to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
The game winner came with 7:39 to play, as Jensen sent a cross, nearly from the end line, back towards the goal. Nasypany headed
the offering back into the net for her third goal of the season. Up until then, the Herons had been thwarted again and again by the Vassar defenders and freshman goalie
Ali Higgins, who had the best game of her young career. Higgins had a spectacular day in goal, and her seven saves in the box score fail to do justice to her body-sacrificing, aggressive play in net. She continually disrupted William Smith's offensive rhythm in front of the net, and showed no fear in coming out to meet charging Heron forwards. The Vassar back line of sophomore
Alix Zongrone, senior
Caitlin Bowman, sophomore
Tessa Verbanic, and junior
Elysa Greenberger also played a critical role in keeping the talented William Smith forwards at bay.
After being held to three shots in the first half, William Smith increased the pressure in the second frame, with eight shots, five on goal. Ten minutes into the half, Heron sophomore Leslie Carrese served a great ball into the box and two Heron forwards got behind the Vassar defense to run onto the pass. Higgins came out to challenge the ball but sophomore Chelsea England tapped a pass to a wide open Nasypany. Nasypany appeared to have a definite goal in pocket, chipping the ball at what looked to be a wide-open net. However, Zongrone appeared out of nowhere to make a goal-line save. The drama did not end there, as the ball bounced off the crossbar back down to the ground, but amidst a cluster of players, Higgins managed to knock the ball out of bounds.
Minutes later England sent a perfect cross to Nasypany, who directed a shot at the goal but Higgins made a spectacular diving save near the right post to deflect the ball out of bounds. England and Nasypany again proved a dangerous duo, with 23 minutes to play in the game as an England cross set Nasypany up with a one-on-one look at the goal. However, Higgins ran on to Nasypany's first touch and smothered the ball before she could get a shot off.
The Brewers had one of their better opportunities early in the second half, ignited by a perfect through ball from junior
Allison McManis. Senior
Anna Robinson beat her defender to receive the pass, however, a Heron defender swooped over and got a foot in front of Robinson's shot to direct it away from the goal.
The Brewers played a defensive game in the first half and it paid off, as they held the speedy and talented Heron forwards at bay, allowing them just three shots, two on goal. William Smith's best chance to score came with 13 and a half minutes left in the half, as Nasypany sent a nice low cross into the box from the right hand side. Two Herons converged on the ball and freshman Morgan Gibeault got a foot on the ball but Higgins made a difficult diving save to get a hand on the shot and a Vassar defender cleared the ball.
Vassar had few chances on the offensive end throughout the game, with five shots, just two on goal. The Herons had 11 shots, eight of them on goal, led by Nasypany's four shots (two on goal). Gibeault came off the bench to contribute three shots, all on goal.
Sophomore goalie Amanda Davis improved to 5-2 with two saves for the Herons. Higgins falls to 1-4.
