COLCHESTER, Vt. - The third-seeded Saint Michael's College women's soccer team blanked No. 6 American International College, 2-0, on Sunday in a Northeast 10 Conference Championship first-round contest at Duffy Field. The Purple Knights will visit No. 2 Bentley University on Thursday for a semifinal.
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Saint Michael's, which received votes toward last week's United Soccer Coaches national poll while sitting fourth in the NCAA's NPI East Region rankings, won an opening-round home game for the second straight year after last hosting a postseason contest in 1989. In the process, sophomore
Chloe Laizer (West Springfield, Mass./West Springfield) tied program records for career and season shutouts.
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RECORDS
- Saint Michael's (9-2-5), AIC (8-9-1)
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS
OPPONENT LEADERS
- First-year Hedda Haukland, 7 saves in 78:56, loss
- Senior Sara Avery, 2 saves in 11:04 of relief
GAME FACTS
- Laizer's ninth shutout of the season matched her own school mark, set last fall. She also tied Trish Hannan '90 with her 18th career clean sheet and is now second in wins (25), behind only Jennifer Kay '94 (27).
- Peterson became the first Purple Knight to hand out multiple assists in a postseason game.
- Saint Michael's defeated AIC in postseason play for the first time, having only previously met on Oct. 29, 1990, when the Yellow Jackets earned a 2-1 win in an NE10 quarterfinal.
- The Purple Knights held a 20-4 lead in shots, while AIC had a 4-3 edge in corner kicks. The Purple and Gold's bench produced as many shots as the Yellow Jackets' entire team on Sunday.
- Saint Michael's improved to 3-0-3 at home this year after posting the second unbeaten regular-season home mark in program history. The 1989 team was 4-0-1 in Colchester before losing an NE10 semifinal on home turf. The Purple Knights improved to 19-4-6 on Duffy Field since October 2023.
- The Purple Knights hosted a postseason contest for the second straight year, and for just the third time, while running their postseason streak to three seasons, their longest since 2000-02.
- Saint Michael's improved to 5-1-1 in its last seven games with AIC, as this was the eighth straight meeting featuring at least one team being shut out. The Purple and Gold's last nine series wins since 2008 came via a shutout.
- Wendy Elles earned her 97th career victory as a college head coach.
THE ACTION
- Senior Bridget Hanley (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) had the best early chance, drilling a free kick just over the upper left corner of the net during the eighth minute.
- The Purple Knight went ahead in the 10th minute, as McDonough and Peterson worked a give-and-go around the edge of the box, as McDonough ultimately slipped a shot inside the right post. Junior back Julia Palmese (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) set up the sequence with an initial pass to McDonough.
- Laizer made a pair of similar saves in the 25th and 30th minutes, leaping to first tip senior Elena Nuñez's free kick over the crossbar before also jumping to deflect junior Flavia Taveri's blast off the bar. Neither ensuing corner kick yielded a shot on goal.
- Sophomore Gianna Arzilli (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central) had a similar look in the 42nd minute, with Haukland needing to jump to tap her shot over the crossbar.
- Saint Michael's doubled its advantage in the 55th minute, as Peterson took a failed clearance pass and centered for Follansbee, whose left-footed strike from the top of the box snuck beyond a diving Haukland and inside the right post.
- Sophomore Sammy Hassan (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) nearly added to the lead in the 85th minute but saw her strike from the edge of the box denied by Avery's diving save.
- AIC took only one shot in the second half, with junior Liz Braz sending an 87th-minute try wide left for her team's first shot since Taveri's tough bid in the 30th minute.
NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME
- Thursday at Bentley, TBA time in NE10 Championship semifinal.
- The Falcons were ranked 15th in this week's United Soccer Coaches national poll.
