Poughkeepsie, NY – First Year
Ava Holman (St. Louis, MO) scored late in the first half and sophomore
Laura Shea (Swarthmore, PA) posted her seventh shutout of the season as the #20 Vassar College Women's Soccer team won its first ever Liberty League Championship Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 victory over RIT. Senior defender
Lindsey Nihei (Honolulu, HI) was named the event's Most Outstanding Performer.
Sunday's victory, Vassar's fifth straight, improves it to 16-3 overall on the season. The victory gives Vassar its first ever league title in its fifth appearance in the conference championship final.
How It Happened
- Vassar narrowly missed scoring in the opening 18 minutes when Riley McGrath (Coronado, CA) rang the crossbar twice.
- Shea made one save in the opening 45 minutes when she tipped a shot from Elena Onodera over the bar to keep the game scoreless.
- The Brewers broke through with the only goal of the game in the 43rd minute.
- After a throw-in, Caroline Sheehan (Springfield, IL) played a ball from the left corner into the box where Holman headed home the game winner at the 42:53 mark.
- Vassar finished the opening half with a 10-2 advantage in shots.
- RIT took the only three corner kicks before halftime.
- Shea made the one first half stop to keep the Tigers off the board.
- RIT netminder, Emily Sanchez, made five stops for the Tigers.
- A scoreless second half featured an 11-4 advantage for RIT in shots.
- Shea made a trio of saves after halftime, including consecutive stops off a corner kick in the closing minute to preserve the victory.
- Second half corner kicks went to the Tigers, 3-1.
For The Brewers
- Nihei was named the event's Most Outstanding Player after playing 181 minutes and anchoring a defense that produced a pair of shutouts in the Liberty League Championship.
- Holman scored her team leading 10th goal of the season, and team best fifth game winning goal. Holman nudged into the team lead with 23 points on the season.
- Sheehan recorded her first career assists and moves her season point total to seven on the season.
- Sonya Franklin (Lancaster, PA) and Gianna Panarelli (Jensen Beach, FL) each led the team with three shots.
- Shea produced her seventh clean sheet of the season with four saves.
For The Tigers
- Sanchez suffered the loss in goal after allowing just the one goal and turning aside four Vassar shots.
- Onodera led the Tigers with three shots in the game, putting two on frame.
Game Statistics
- Vassar finished with a slim 14-13 advantage in shots, including a 6-4 edge in shots on goal.
- Corner kicks went to the Tigers by a 6-1 margin.
What's Next
- Vassar will learn its opponent for the upcoming NCAA Tournament on Monday.
