New Paltz Falls to Vassar 2-1 in Double Overtime

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — It took 24 shots, but with 9:15 left in the second overtime Vassar senior forward Bernie Wu (Great Neck, NY/Great Neck South) put in her third goal of the year on a rebound from a freshman forward Jennie McAllister (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) shot to give the host Brewers a dramatic and hard-fought 2-1 double overtime win over local rival SUNY New Paltz Wednesday afternoon.

With the victory, Vassar raises its record to 3-1 on the season, while New Paltz drops to 0-3. Next for the Vassar will be the Seven Sisters Tournament taking place at Swarthmore College. Up next for New Paltz Hawks is SUNY Brockport on Saturday.

After a scoreless first overtime, in which Vassar got off five shots that were all turned away, the second overtime lasted only five minutes. New Paltz started the second overtime fast with two shots on Vassar goalie Taylor Herman (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) just a minute into the period, but she made two big saves leaving herself completely in a split after the second save. This momentum swing was enough to power the Brewers offense down the field, where Vassar would control the ball until McAllister fired a shot from ten yards out that New Paltz goalie Nicole Kovac (Fayetteville-Manilius/Manilius, NY) managed to stop. However, Vassar’s Wu was right there for the rebound where she would knock in the goal to end the game, five minutes into the second overtime.

For the game Kovac had 15 saves, while VC’s Herman had four.

The first half was highlighted by strong defensive prowess by both teams as neither allowed a shot on goal until McAllister fired a shot at the 19:13 mark in the first half that was saved by Kovac. Kovac continued to come up big, minutes later making a majestic sprawling save on a one-timer from junior midfielder Chrissy Lewis (Lawrenceville, NJ/ Lawrenceville School). However, three minutes later, Vassar finally solved Kovac, as McAllister put in a pass from a Wu shot to put the Brewers up 1-0, at 21:45 of the first half.

Vassar continued the offensive pressure throughout the first half culminating in junior midfielder Catharine Twardy (Sherborn, MA/Dover-Sherborn Regional) releasing a rocket of a shot from about ten yards out that Kovac just managed to get her foot on for the save. The Vassar defense shut down the New Paltz offense in the half allowing no shots on net, led by Lewis’s composed play and ball handling out of the backfield.

New Paltz came out in the second half firing with junior forward Jacqueline Sisco (John Jay/Wappinger Falls, NY) getting a shot on Brewers junior goalie Ellie Pomerantz (Hartsdale, NY/The Hackley School), who had replaced Herman in the second half, just one minute into the action. Pomerantz was up to the task and turned the shot away. Sisco got her revenge as she managed to slip one by Pomerantz just three minutes later to tie the game 1-1 at 39:15 in the second half.

The rest of the half was dominated by the Brewers offense as Kovac saw ten second half shots, none of which found the back of the net. Twardy continued her strong offensive play as she released several shots that bolted toward that goal, but Kovac was there every time including a full-extended kick save with 42 seconds to go in the half to preserve the tie.