GENEVA, NY – The Nazareth women's soccer team saw its strong season come to an end on Saturday as the Golden Flyers fell 4-1 to #7 William Smith in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championships.
The Golden Flyers finish the season 8-5-6 overall, while the Herons move to 14-0-4. William Smith will match up against #22 Bowdoin College in the second round matchup on Sunday.
After only registering one shot in its previous meeting, a 2-0 loss on October 18, Nazareth was able to quickly double that after 10 minutes of action. The Golden Flyers had a tough task of trying to break through the Heron backline which has a goals against average of .41, which ranks 13
th in the country.
William Smith was able to score on one of its early opportunities as Seneca Blakely-Armitage played a cross back to Julia Berg in the 15
th minute.
Nearly eight minutes later, the Herons were at it again with a great individual effort from Ruth Hotaling. Hotaling took the ball all the way from midfield and was able to finish it far post from inside the 18-yard box.
Nazareth had a quick answer, however, as less than two minutes later
Haley Glassman found the back of the net. Glassman was served a ball over top of the defense and beat the oncoming keeper for a shot from 25-yards out. It was the first goal the Herons had given up since September 23
rd, a span of over 900 minutes.
The goal for Nazareth was also the first it had scored against the Herons since 2008, a mark spanning 8 games.
The one goal game didn't last long as the Herons struck again on a back post run in the 30
th minute.
It was 3-1 at the break.
The score remained that way until late in the game when the Herons tacked on one more to close out the scoring in the 87
th minute.
Junior
Annika Monfort finished with seven saves in the game. The Herons held an 11-3 advantage in shots on goal.
