The Dutchwomen soccer team successfully defended their New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association championship the weekend of October 28 in thrilling fashion. The Garnet, which had defeated Vassar, 1-0, in the first round and knocked off Hamilton, 3-0, in the semi-finals, played 150 minutes of soccer with St. Lawrence before finally winning its second consecutive title on penalty kicks, 4-3.
In a rematch of last year's state championship game, Union and St. Lawrence see-sawed back and forth for 150 minutes. The teams were tied 1-1 at the half, 2-2 at the end of regulation and 2-2 at the end of four 15-minute sudden death overtimes. Solid goalkeeping, outstanding team defense and opportunistic offense highlighted this exciting and well-played match.
In the end, though, it was the penalty kick of senior tri-captain Julie Cardettino (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) that decided the outcome. Cardettino came off the bench and blasted her shot over the head of the Saints' goalkeeper giving the Dutchwomen their second-straight crown.
The Saints got the scoring going at 23:25 of the first half when their leading scoring Meredith Eisenhut beat sophomore goaltender Carolyn Stead (Portland, ME/Deering). The Saints seemed to have two more goals locked away but Union defender Stephanie Maychack (West Sand Lake, NY/Averill Park) took two potential tallies away with some outstanding defense in front of the net while Stead was down after making the initial save. Union responded at 37:57 as Matusewicz scored off a pass from Teran Tadal (Webster, NY/Mercy). Tadal then gave Union a 2-1 as she scored only her second goal on the season at 53:51 off a pass from West. However, with less than 18 minutes left to go in the game, St. Lawrence got the equalizer from Kate Adams who pushed a loose ball in front of the net past the goal line. The game would go into four overtimes, for a total of 150 minutes of soccer. Both teams had several opportunities to put the game away, but neither team was able to convert. The state championship came down to penalty kicks with each team sending five shooters to the first round.
Stead came up big on the Saints' first shot, making a diving save. Maychack then converted her opportunity giving Union the 1-0 edge. St. Lawrence hit the post on its second shot with Union also missing its second chance. Both teams converted their last three shots with the Dutchwomen getting goals from Deligiannis and Margret Kostro (Westfield, NJ/Westfield). Cardettino came off of the bench and calmly hit the game winner by sending the ball into the upper left hand corner of the net.
Matusewicz was named the event's “MVP” while Kostro, Maychack, Stead, and West were all named to the All-NYSWCAA team. Matusewicz scored 69 goals, 23 assists and 161 points while starting every game of her 72-game career.
While the Dutchwomen enjoyed a long and successful run in the state event, their trip to the NCAA Division III tournament lasted only one game. Western Connecticut State University scored with 9:48 showing in the third overtime to defeat the Dutchwomen, 1-0, on Garis Field. It marked the first time in the 21-year history of women's soccer at Union that an NCAA game was played on Garis.
“Right now we are very disappointed,” said sixth-year head coach Brian Speck, who has led the team to a record of 72-23-8. “But when the disappointment clears we can look back and be proud of our accomplishments. I feel badly for our seniors because they deserve to still be playing. They have been the foundation of a team that has put together a record of 56-11-5 over the last four years with two state titles, two league titles and two NCAA invitations. They should be very proud of their accomplishments, I know I am.”
Under Speck's leadership the Dutchwomen have participated in postseason four times with the program's first two state championships as well as the first two NCAA appearances. Union has also won the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association title two of the last three years.
The first-round NCAA game saw the Dutchwomen dominate Western Connecticut State University in every phase of the game….except the scoreboard. Union held a 16-2 shot advantage (including a 14-1 shot on goal buldge) and a 14-2 margin in cornerkicks.
Union will graduates seniors Matusewicz, Cardettino, Deligiannis, Tovah Glaser (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) and Marie Maurer (Beaverton, OR/Valley Catholic).