POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — With just three seconds to play, freshman Rebecca Devlin (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) broke a scoreless deadlock, giving the SUNY New Paltz soccer team a 1-0 victory over Vassar College on Wednesday afternoon.
With the ball bouncing around in the box after a corner kick by Brittany Bennett (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) the Hawks were initially unable to get a shot off. However, after the ball cleared back out to Bennett on the sideline, the freshman midfielder sent a pass to Devlin. With the Brewers’ defense and goalie drawn out following the corner, Devlin chipped the ball over the head of the Vassar goalkeeper into the net for the game-winning goal.
Despite the low-scoring game, both teams put up strong offensive numbers, with the Brewers out-shooting the Hawks 22-13. Vassar nearly took the lead in the 85th minute when the Brewers laced a pass past the defense for a one on one look, but Hawk goalkeeper Sarah Boccard (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) charged out of the net and made a diving stop. Boccard kept New Paltz in the game with some impressive saves. The junior goalkeeper had eight saves on the day.
The Hawks improve to 2-3 and begin SUNYAC play with a game against SUNY-Cortland.
