Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 17, 2010) -- A one goal deficit at half time and the daunting precedent of NYU wins did not stop the Vassar College women's soccer team from writing program history on Friday afternoon at Prentiss Field, as the Brewers scored two second-half goals to beat rival New York University, 2-1, for the first time in program history.

The Brewers improve to 4-2 while the Violets fall to 2-5 on the season. Vassar will travel to Elms College tomorrow, September 18 for a 3 p.m. contest before heading into Liberty League next weekend on Friday, September 24 at Saint Lawrence University. NYU will travel to Swarthmore College on Sunday, September 19 for a 1 p.m. non-conference game.

Freshman Sheeva Seyfi scored the go-ahead goal for the Brewers, the first goal of her collegiate career. With just under 18 minutes left in the game, senior captain Carolyn Demougeot lofted the ball to Seyfi, who was streaking into the left side of the box. Seyfi gathered the ball and made two quick dekes to her right around defenders toward the center of the box before ripping the ball to the left side of the goal. The ball bounced off the left goal post and into the net for the eventual game winner.

Down 1-0 at the half, Demougeot sparked the Brewer offense about fifteen minutes into the second period. After the Brewer defense was able to clear an NYU corner kick, Demougeot gathered the ball at the midline and took off racing down the field, beating several NYU defenders before getting tackled on the right side of the NYU box. The Brewers were rewarded with an indirect kick, in which junior Tessa Verbanic tapped the ball to the powerful foot of senior captain Rachel Shea, who drilled it top shelf for her first goal of the season.

That tying goal was a major momentum swing for the Brewers, who found themselves down a goal when the Violets scored with about ten seconds left in the first half. Vassar failed to the clear the ball after a save by freshman goalkeeper Ali Higgins with less than half a minute and the ball was gathered by Erica Jones who found a wide open Leslie Smith on the left wing. With no defender in front of her, Smith moved to the center of the box and launched a shot off the hands of a diving Higgins and into the net for the lead.

Particularly important for the Brewers was the play of Demougeot in the midfield and junior Alix Zongrone on defense. A force in the middle, Demougeot set up each of the two Vassar goals. Zongrone's defensive effort was clutch for the Brewers, as she was all over the field, constantly fighting off NYU attackers and blocking a number of shots with her body.

In goal, Higgins played the first period and made three stops for the Brewers, while classmate Lex Hutton played the second 45 minutes and made four saves, improving her record to 2-1. For NYU, senior Alex Walters played the full 90 minutes in goal and made eight saves on the day. With the loss, she evens her record at 2-2.

The Brewers outshot the Violets 24 to 18, getting ten and seven shots from Seyfi and Shea, respectively.

“It was an ultimate team effort”, said head coach, Richard Moller after the historic victory. “What really makes me proud is that this team is working its heart out from the first minute to the last minute.”