SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's soccer team will make its first appearance in the Liberty League Tournament since 2021 when the sixth-seeded Garnet Chargers head to Rochester Institute of Technology to battle the third-seeded Tigers at Doug May Field.
ALL TOGETHER NOW: The women's soccer team is joined in the postseason this fall by the men's soccer team, field hockey team and women's volleyball team; this marks the first time since 2009 that all four Union fall sports qualified for the postseason in the same year. Combined with the football team's unbeaten conference slate so far, Union is the only Liberty League school to have all five sports still in contention for a conference title as the calendar turns to November.
THE TEAMS: Union (9-6-3, 4-3-2 Liberty League) finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings and will be the sixth seed in the Liberty League Tournament, facing off with third-seeded RIT (8-3-6, 5-3-1 Liberty League) in the first round. The other first-round matchup features fourth-seeded Skidmore College (7-5-4, 4-3-2 Liberty League) and fifth-seeded Ithaca College (7-5-4, 4-3-2 Liberty League), both of whom tied with Union for fourth place. Vassar College (14-3-0, 8-1-0 Liberty League) earned the top seed and William Smith College (11-2-3, 7-1-1 Liberty League) nabbed the second seed in the conference postseason.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its 13th appearance in the Liberty League Tournament and first since 2021, when Union reached the semifinal round as the third seed. Union is 10-8-0 all-time in the Liberty League Tournament, including four conference titles in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006.
UNION VS. RIT: Union and RIT have met 14 times since the Tigers joined the Liberty League in 2011, with RIT holding an 8-4-2 edge in the all-time series. Three of Union's four wins against RIT have come in Schenectady, where the teams have battled to a 3-3-2 draw in eight meetings.
LAST MEETING: Union snapped a three-match losing streak to the Tigers with an impressive 3-1 win at College Park Field on October 11. The Garnet Chargers received second-half goals from senior Vanessa Jorgensen, junior Taylor Bovardi and sophomore Julia Bancheri in the victory, while senior Rachel Berliner made three stops in 90 minutes to earn the win.
ABOUT UNION: The Garnet Chargers finished the regular season with an 9-6-3 record and a 4-3-2 mark in the Liberty League. The nine wins mark the third time in head coach Karen Perron's five seasons that the Garnet Chargers have reached the nine-win plateau, while the four conference victories are the most since her first season at the helm in 2021. With one more win, Perron (41-34-15) would move into second place on the program's career wins list.
FORWARD-THINKING: Senior Anabelle Thomas ranks seventh in the Liberty League in scoring with seven goals on the season, while fellow forward junior Taylor Bovardi is second among all conference players with seven assists so far in 2025. Thomas' seven tallies are the most for a Union player since Emma Schleimer '22 scored seven in 2019, while Bovardi's seven helpers are the most since Melissa Mansfield '14 helped on seven goals in 2012.
POWERFUL PAIR: The tandem of senior Rachel Berliner and junior Maya Koster have been excellent in goal all season for Union, helping the team to a 0.72 goals against average that ranks third in the Liberty League. Berliner is 6-3-1 with a 0.58 GAA and .875 save percentage in 772:45 of action, while Koster is 3-3-2 with a 0.87 GAA and .840 save percentage in 831:24 of play. Berliner was named the Liberty League Defensive Player of the Week on October 20 after making 10 saves in a draw with Ithaca, while Koster earned the honor on September 15 following two scoreless appearances in wins over Western New England and Plattsburgh State.
REAPING THE REWARDS: In addition to Berliner and Koster's honors, senior Anabelle Thomas was named the Liberty League Offensive Performer of the Week on September 22 after scoring three goals with an assist in the first 11 minutes of two Union matches against #13 Middlebury and SUNY Oneonta.
ABOUT THE TIGERS: RIT finished the regular season with a 8-3-6 overall record and a 5-3-1 conference record to finish in third place. The Tigers rank fourth in the Liberty League with 26 goals in 17 matches, while ranking sixth among conference teams with 16 goals allowed on the year. Elena Onodera is the team's leading scorer with six goals and an assist for 13 points, followed by Amerie Mills and Bella Coccio with three goals each. Emily Sanchez has started 15 games in goal for the Tigers, posting a .784 save percentage and a 0.77 goals against average with five shutouts.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Union-RIT winner will advance to the Liberty League Tournament semifinals on Friday at second-seeded William Smith College.
2025 Liberty League Tournament
First Round – Tuesday, November 4, 2025
#6 Union at #3 RIT, 4:00 PM
#5 Ithaca at #4 Skidmore, 4:00 PM
Semifinal Round – Friday, November 7, 2025
#3 RIT/#6 Union at #2 William Smith, 11:00 AM
#4 Skidmore/#5 Ithaca at #1 Vassar, TBA
Championship Game – Sunday, November 9, 2025
Semifinal Winners at Highest Remaining Seed
