TROY, N.Y. – Sophomore striker
Mollie Gilchrist scored off of a cross by senior
Giovanna Velardo in the 62nd minute, to lead the No. 13 Union College women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), this evening in Liberty League action at East Campus Stadium. With the win, the Dutchwomen clinched their first Liberty League playoff berth since 2009 and improved to 13-1 overall (5-1 Liberty League).
RPI dropped its first game in league play to fall to 9-5 (5-1 Liberty League).
In a 1-1 contest, midway through the second half, Velardo worked the ball to the end line, before sending a cross into the middle of the penalty area. Gilchrist ran onto the ball and buried her eighth of the season and fourth in the past three games from close range.
Union senior
Jennifer Mansfield nearly made a two-goal game in the 73rd minute, but her shot from the left side of the box found the right post before bouncing directly into the arms of RPI junior goalkeeper Steph Vargas.
The Engineers best opportunity to tie the game came in the 88th minute of play, when senior captain Kirsten Bombardier headed a Rachel Tietzen corner back across the face of the Union goal. Sophomore Taylor Korytko was there to knock the ball towards the net on a back-heel, but it was ruled that Dutchwomen goalie
Kayla Marti snagged the ball before it cross the goal line.
Mansfield scored the game's first goal in the 39th minute, off a flick-on header by sophomore
Whitney Bickford. Mansfield corralled the redirected header just outside the Rensselaer six-yard box and finished low to Vargas' right side.
Less than a minute later, the Engineers answered as senior Shannon Maguire found classmate Nikki Goodsell streaking into the left side of the penalty area. From there, Goodsell ripped a low shot that found its way just inside the far post, evening the score at one-all.
Marti (13-1) finished with two saves to earn the win, while Vargas (4-2) stopped two shots of her own at the other end of the field.
Union will host William Smith on Saturday night at College Park in a contest that begins at 2:00 p.m