Women's Soccer Wins HVIAC Conference Championship!
The Mighty Oaks men's and women's soccer teams scored major victories Oct. 23 and 24 and captured ESF's first dual Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships.
The women won the title with a long-awaited victory over their rivals from the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences after defeating King's College in the semifinal match. The men's team defeated the College of New Rochelle in the final after getting past the College of Pharmacy in the semifinal. Until the tournament, both Mighty Oaks teams had lost to the College of Pharmacy for two straight years.
The championships mean both ESF teams receive automatic bids to the USCAA soccer national championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Nov. 10-14.
The women's team entered the tournament as a No. 2 seed sporting a 10-2-1 record, 2-1 in conference play. In their semifinal match, the Mighty Oaks cruised to a 5-0 victory over the King's College in cold, wet conditions.
Scoring for ESF were junior Lauren Archer (two goals), freshman Maureen McCarthy (two goals) and junior Jessie Smith.
The following day, the Mighty Oaks faced the Albany College of Pharmacy. The Panthers have had their way with ESF lately, defeating the Mighty Oaks once during the 2016 regular season and three times during the 2015 season. ESF's last win against Albany Pharmacy was a 1-0 victory Sept. 14, 2014.
In the championship game, played under, clear skies and in temperatures in the 50s, the women's team applied the pressure on the Albany Pharmacy defense over the opening 45 minutes. With the wind in their favor, the Mighty Oaks seized the early lead on tournament MVP Heather Carl's goal in the 31st minute. The Mighty Oaks finished with a 16 shots on goal in the first half versus two from the Panthers. ESF went into intermission with a 1-0 lead.
After several scoring chances for both teams early in the second half, the Panthers found the equalizer in the 65th minute on a brilliant free kick from Albany Pharmacy sophomore Erin Tersengo, who scored her league-best 27th goal of the season. She was named HVIAC Player of the Year in awards ceremonies after the game.
ESF continued to apply the pressure for most of the second half, outshooting the Panthers 12-7 against the wind. The Mighty Oaks went back on top when junior Shannon Gordinier was set up in the box by junior Anna Bishop for the title-clinching goal. The Mighty Oaks held the Panthers to just three more shots after taking the lead in the 67th minute and escaped a threat with less than five minutes to play when Albany Pharmacy was awarded an indirect free kick inside the 18. The ensuing shot attempt never made it past the Mighty Oaks wall.
The win ended Albany Pharmacy's three-year reign as HVIAC conference champions. Carl was named the tournament MVP. Bishop, Gordinier and Carl were named to the HVIAC All-Conference Team. Freshman Alyssa Hughes was named the HVIAC Rookie of the Year.
