Poughkeepsie, NY – Riley McGrath (Coronado, CA) scored with seven seconds left in the first half with what proved to be the game winning goal and the Vassar College Women's Soccer team erupted for three second half tallies on Friday in a 4-0 Liberty League home win over St. Lawrence. First Year
Laura Shea (Swarthmore, PA) held the Saints off the board with her third shutout of the season.
Friday's win pushes Vassar to 8-2-3 overall, matching its win total from 2023, and to 3-1-1 against conference rivals. St. Lawrence falls to 5-6-1 and 0-4-1 in Liberty League play.
How It Happened
- The two teams played a scoreless first half until the closing seconds when Vassar found the only goal it would need.
- After earning a corner kick in the closing seconds, Allie Foote (West Chester, PA) played a ball into the box that McGrath headed just over the goal line at 44:53 to send the Brewers into the intermission with a 1-0 lead.
- First half shots were even at 9-9 over the course of the opening 45 minutes.
- Vassar took the only four corner kicks in the first half.
- Shea held the Saints off the board with six first half saves.
- Vassar held on to the one-shot advantage until doubling its lead early in the second half.
- Cecelia Wager (Brookline, MA) played a ball from the back to First Year Alice Crowley (St. Louis, MO) who deposited her team leading 12th goal of the season at 52:57 to push Vassar in front 2-0.
- Sophomore Grace Romano (Florance, NJ) pushed the lead to 3-0just over 20 minutes later when she curled home a shot from the right win in the 74th minute.
- First Year Lucy Hart (Portland, ME) played a ball to the right wing that Romano tucked inside the far post at 73:02.
- Leading 3-0, Vassar closed out the scoring in the game when First Year Mollie McLaughlin (Seattle, WA) collected a loose ball from 30 yards out and pounded a shot under the bar at 79:03 for the final goal of the day.
- Vassar controlled play after halftime, holding an 11-1 advantage in second half shots.
- The Brewers took four more corner kicks after the break.
For The Brewers
- McGrath scored for the fourth time this season, moving into a tie for second on the team in markers. The game winning goal is McGrath's first of the season.
- Crowley posted her team leading 12th goal of the campaign and pushes her team lead in points to 26.
- Romano joins McGrath and Madison Bouggess (Swedesboro, NJ) with four goals on the season.
- Hart recorded her first career point with the helper on the Romano tally in the second half.
- McLaughlin potted her first career goal and pushed her career point total to three with Friday's second half tally.
- Wager and Foote each picked up their second assist of the season in the victory.
- Crowley and McGrath each recorded four shots in the win.
- Rebecca Rodriguez (Santa Barbara, CA) posted three attempts, putting two on frame.
- Shea continued a strong start to her collegiate career with six saves, one off of matching her career-high.
- Shea earns a shutout in back-to-back games and lowers her goals against average to 0.40 while raising her save percentage to .920.
For The Saints
- Meredith Donahue and Zoe Rogan led the team with two shots apiece.
- Reagan Murphy suffered the loss in goal, finishing the day with four saves.
Game Statistics
- Vassar doubled up the Saints in shots 20-10 and held an 8-6 edge in shots on goal.
- Corner kicks went to Vassar by an 8-0 margin.
What's Next
- Vassar closes out its back-to-back weekend with a home tilt against Clarkson on Saturday.
- St. Lawrence tussles with Bard Saturday afternoon.
