WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior
Taylor Bovardi scored the lone goal of the afternoon in the 79th minute to lead the Union College women's soccer team to a season-opening 1-0 victory over Worcester Polytechnic Institute on a rainy Tuesday afternoon at H. Carr Field at Alumni Stadium.
The victory gives Union (1-0) a season-opening victory for the first time in the last four years, including back-to-back 1-0 losses to WPI (0-1) to start the season in 2024 and 2025.
After the home team took the first shot of the afternoon in the opening seconds of the third minute, Union established some solid possession and generated several chances over the next 15 minutes, earning three corners and attempting three shots. Senior
Maya Koster made the match's first save in the 19th minute before a counter by first-year
Janalyn Weber was denied by WPI's Ayla Verheul. The Engineers took the final five shots of the opening half to hold a slight 7-6 edge in shot attempts over the first 45 minutes, with Koster making two stops to keep the match scoreless.
The Garnet Chargers registered the first three on-target shots of the second half, but the game remained scoreless until the opening seconds of the 79th minute, when senior
Hannah Sams sprung her classmate with a through ball and Bovardi slotted the ball into the lower-right corner for the 10th goal of her Union career and her fifth career game-winner.
The Union defense did not allow a shot after Bovardi's tally and conceded only four off-target attempts in the entirety of the second half to preserve the shutout. Koster needed just those two first-half stops to pick up the seventh clean sheet of her career.
Union finished the afternoon with a 14-11 edge in shots, including a 6-2 edge in on-target tries, as well as a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks. Weber had a game-high three shots to lead the visitors in her collegiate debut, while Sams had two on-target shots in addition to her assist on Bovardi's game-winner.
Union will return to Massachusetts on Saturday for another non-conference test at Babson College beginning at 1 p.m.
