Aug. 29, 2010
Box Score
BURLINGTON, VT - Trailing by a goal at the half, La Salle Women's Soccer battled back, getting a game-tying tally by freshman Renee Washington and a game-winning goal by Erin Brennan to register a 3-2 come-back victory over Vermont in the final game of the TD Bank Classic on Sunday afternoon.
"This was a really hard fought game, and we gave up two early goals, but it was an amazing team effort as they stepped it up in the second half to generate chances," said Head Coach Paul Royal. "We really came out inspired and worked hard to get the win.
"It was a whole different team in the second half. Everybody m got playing time, and even the kids off the bench made big contributions for our success today."
The Explorers took an early 1-0 lead just 2:13 into the match as Diana Allen scored her first collegiate goal off an assist from Kierstyn Mabey, her second of the season.
However, Vermont (1-1) responded with an equalizer at the 4:30 mark as Alison Hemphill notched her first of the season. The Catamounts took the lead with just over two minutes left before the half as Haley Marks assisted on Midori Eckenstein's first goal of the year.
Washington, who would be named the Tournament MVP, scored an unassisted goal at the 58:28 mark of the match, her third goal of the season, to knot the game at 2-2. Of her three goals in 2010, Washington has one game winner, and the two other are equalizers.
She now becomes the first freshman at the school to score a goal in each of the first three games of the season and joins Jenni Myers (a junior in 1997) as the only two Explorers in the 25-year program history to ever score a goal in each of the team's first three games to start a season. Lastly, now only four players in the school's annals have ever started a season with points in the first three games, which includes Sara Copare in 2009 and Alex Conley in 2008, and none of them registered a point in game four, something Washington can do in her next game.
"Since coming in to camp in early August, the upper classmen pulled us into the mix and have the importance our team chemistry being very strong," said Washington. "In that first game all of the freshmen were pretty nervous, but knowing that we have plenty of support from the coaches and our teammates, we know we can go out and make mistakes, but it's OK. I've been carrying that with me, and working hard, and that's helped me and the team to a nice start."
With just over 16 minutes left, Heather Steadman found Brennan for the eventual game winner. For Brennan, it was her fifth career goal and three of them have been game-winning tallies.
Steadman notched her 15 career assist on the play, pulling her into a tie for seventh all-time with Krista Lee (2000-03) and her .36 assists per game ranks third all-time in La Salle history. That pair, Steadman and Brennan were named to the TD Bank Classic All-Tournament Team along with Washington.
Gabby Pakhtigian earned the win in net for the Explorers, her sixth career win in nine starts, while Alyssa Kelly took the loss.
La Salle (2-1) will next be in action on Tuesday night, as the Explorers host Lafayette starting at 7 PM in McCarthy Stadium, a game that will be preceded by a BBQ at 6 PM.
