SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's soccer team battled yet another nationally ranked opponent to a draw on Tuesday afternoon at College Park Field, finishing in a 1-1 tie with IWSOC #19 Hamilton College.
The tie is the sixth of the year for Union (4-3-6), breaking a tie with the 2024 squad for the most stalemates in a season in program history. The draw also keeps Union unbeaten (0-0-5) at College Park Field this season, with four of those matches coming against nationally ranked opponents.
With at-times heavy rain to start the afternoon, the teams settled into action early on and saw several passes skid away on the rain-soaked turf.
Hamilton (8-2-2) took the first two shots of the game, but Union caught a break at the start of the 23rd minute when senior
Ashley Sheldon played a ball into the box that skipped off the turf and off the outstretched arm of Hamilton defender Kate Giglio. Junior
Julia Bancheri stepped to the penalty spot and slotted the ball into the lower-left corner for her first goal of the season to put the home team up 1-0.
The Continentals evened the score with a bit of a fluke play in the 36th minute. A corner kick was flicked toward the middle of the box, where it caromed off a Union head toward the goal line, where Lila Sullivan was there to redirect the ball into the net for her 10th goal of the year. The goal ended Union's scoreless streak at 561:30 dating back to the September 23 match against Eastern Connecticut State University, the fifth-longest shutout streak in program history. Senior
Maya Koster also had her personal shutout streak end at 516:30, the longest of her collegiate career.
Play opened up on both sides as the skies cleared in the second half, with the teams combining for 11 shots after taking just four in the first half. After no saves combined in the first 45 minutes, Koster and Hamilton's Corah Boller both had to make stops in the first three minutes of the second stanza. Senior
Taylor Bovardi had a pair of good attempts turned aside by Boller to keep the match tied, while Koster and junior
Brooke Rosenshine made two saves apiece in the second half for Union.
The Garnet Chargers had one last chance in the beginning of the 87th minute, when Sheldon got the ball 25 yards from goal and put a shot just over the bar.
Hamilton finished the afternoon with a 10-5 edge in shots, with Union holding a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Union will close the regular season with four straight Liberty League matchups, beginning on Saturday with a 2 p.m. match against Ithaca College at College Park Field.
