Lynchburg College women's soccer upset

Saturday’s first-round match between Lynchburg College and SUNY-New Paltz in the NCAA Division III tournament was a perfect example of why many people find soccer exasperating and captivating.

The Hornets completely dominated the game. Lynchburg held a huge advantage in  possession and field position. They out-shot the Hawks 31-7. Yet, it was New Paltz that celebrated a victory, thanks to a 3-2 edge in penalty kicks.

“They bunkered-in and I think that’s too bad at this point in the this season because PKs are just awful,” LC coach Dr. Todd Olsen said. “I’m disappointed with having our season end when a team bunkers-in. But, hey they did a good job of bunkering-in and they have a good goal-keeper and they won in PKs.”

Lynchburg finishes the season with a 19-3-1 record.

“We had a fantastic season and we really thought we were going to go pretty far (in the NCAA tournament) so to get knocked out in the first round is extraordinarily disappointing,” Olsen said. “I don’t even know what to say. But, our girls never quit. They kept going to the very end. I’m proud of them. There is just a bitter taste in my mouth because of PKs.”

The Hawks advance to today’s second-round game at 5 p.m. at Lynchburg College. They will face the winner of Saturday’s other first-round game between Shenandoah and Rowan.

New Paltz played to its strength: An outstanding defense spearheaded by a terrific goalie. The Hawks, lead by keeper Stephanie Vega’s 86 saves, entered the game having surrendered just nine goals in 20 games this season..

The high-scoring Hornets, despite their best efforts, couldn’t score in regulation or in either of the two overtime periods. They even failed to convert on three of their five attempts in penalty kicks. Vega making a save on the fifth PK that clinched the win.

“Lynchburg is such a good team,” New Paltz coach Colleen Bruley said. “We’ve had a strong defensive team all year and given up so few goals. Everyone worked for each other and we fought so hard today. We were hoping to get some more chances, but as the game went on we were thrilled (to get those chances we got) against such a strong team.”

New Paltz fell back defensively and tried to funnel the Hornets into the middle of the field rather than allow LC’s speedy wing players to get down the flanks and turn the defense by getting around the end or crossing the ball into the box.

“Not letting their players get outside and either dribble past a defender or cross it was huge,” Bruley said. “We talked about that immensely the last couple of days. We knew that was their game plan and this was our game plan.”

Lynchburg found a soft spot in the defense outside the top of the penalty area and fired away from about 20 to 35 yards. But the shots whistled wide, just cleared the crossbar to land harmlessly in the top of the netting or were saved by Vega. Nothing got into the goal.

Even when LC got shots on frame and past Vega, the ball just wouldn’t go in net. Four different times the Hornets had shots slam either off the crossbar or a post.

Vega was the player of the match . She finished with 11 saves, and did a great job controlling the high balls played into the traffic of the penalty area.

“Their keeper is very, very good,” Olsen said. “I give a lot of credit to the keeper. She made some really terrific saves. She was the MVP of that game for sure.”

Added Bruley: “We are playing with someone else’s money. No one expected us go this far. So we’ll see how far we can go. We’ll see who can score on us.”