Poughkeepsie, NY – Lucy Hart (Portland, ME) scored her first career goal and
Gianna Panarelli (Jensen Beach, FL) potted the eventual game winner as the Vassar College Women's Soccer team posted a hard fought 2-1 win over Clarkson in the First Round of the 2024 Liberty League Women's Soccer Championship Tuesday afternoon.
Vassar improves to 11-2-5 with Tuesday's victory, marking the most wins in season since the Brewers won 11 games in 2019. Tuesday's victory is also the 19
th win over Clarkson in the last 27 meetings between the two teams and gives Vassar its first victory in the Liberty League Championship Tournament since a 1-0 victory over RIT in the Semifinal Round of the 2019 Championship.
How It Happened
- Clarkson jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, getting on the board in the fifth minute.
- Julia Tylar started a corner kick that found Callie Abel in the box, who deposited her fourth goal of the season at 4:11 to give the Golden Knights the early advantage.
- Prior to the Golden Knights' goal, Vassar had two attempts from in tight denied when Molly DiCaprio stoned Noelle Namba (San Francisco, CA) in the box and then a rebound attempt from Alice Crowley (St. Louis, MO).
- Vassar trailed by the one-goal margin until the 27th minute when Hart found the back of the net for the first time in her career.
- She took a feed from Namba and snuck a ball inside the right post at 26:17 to bring the Brewers even in the tilt.
- The Hart goal closed out the scoring in the first half, but Vassar went into the intermission with a 12-3 advantage in shots.
- First half corner kicks went to the visiting Golden Knights by a slim 4-3 margin.
- First Year goalkeeper Laura Shea (Swarthmore, PA) made a single save before halftime.
- Molly DiCaprio was busy in the first half and turned aside five Vassar shots.
- With the game tied at a goal apiece, Vassar found what proved the be the game winning goal just 2:18 into the second half.
- Rebecca Rodriguez (Santa Barbara, CA) played a ball into the box that found Panarelli who finished off her sixth goal of the season at 47:18 to push the Brewers in front by the final 2-1 margin.
- Shots after halftime were even at 4-4.
- Second half corner kicks were event at 1-1 after halftime.
- Each goalkeeper made a single save after the break.
- Shea denied a Clarkson shot with just over five minutes left in regulation time to keep the visitors from evening the score.
For The Brewers
- Hart picked up her first goal of the season and became the 14th different Brewer to tally to date in 2024. Hart pushed her season point total to three with Tuesday's marker.
- Panarelli moved into a tie for second on the team in goals with six and into sole possession of second place on the team in points with 13 following Tuesday's tally. The game winning goal is the second of the season and the second in as many games for Panarelli.
- Namba moved into first place on the team in assists with her fifth helper of the season, pushing her season point total to nine.
- Rodriguez recorded her third assist on Tuesday and now stands with seven points on the season.
- Namba led the team with three shots in the game, including two on goal.
- Crowley closed the game with a pair of shots on target.
- Shea picked up her sixth win of the season in goal with two saves in the contest, giving her 34 stops on the season.
For The Golden Knights
- Abel moved into a tie for second on the team with her fourth marker of the season.
- Tylar picked up her team leading fifth assist of the season on the Clarkson goal.
- Abel and Emma Robinson each finished with two shots for the Golden Knights.
- DiCaprio closed the game with six saves in goal.
Game Statistics
- Vassar finished with a 16-7 advantage in overall shots and outshot Clarkson 9-3 in attempts on goal.
- Corner kicks went to Clarkson by a slim 5-4 margin.
- Fouls in the contest were even at 5-5.
What's Next
- Vassar will travel to second seeded William Smith on Friday to take on the Herons in the Semifinal Round of the Championship.
