The New York University women's soccer team earned a spot in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship semifinal with a 4-0 victory over host Farleigh Dickinson University-Florham on Sunday, November 12, in Madison, NJ.
NYU (12-5-3), the top seed in the region, set the tone with a pair of goals in the first six minutes and never looked back, adding two more goals in the second half to cruise past third-seeded FDU-Florham (13-7-0).
The two early goals came just under three minutes apart and both plays were started by
Alex Benedict.
For the first goal, the sophomore sent a pass from midfield to classmate
Isabelle Turner, who dribbled past the defense and into the box. Turner then found a wide open
Marquel Love, who buried a shot to give the Violets a lead just 2:16 into the contest.
Benedict earned an assist on the second goal, once again finding Turner, who doubled the NYU lead at the 5:07 mark.
Love scored again when she successfully converted a penalty kick early in the second half. The senior captain was fouled in the box and made the Devils pay when she beat FDU goalkeeper Ashley Paulino on the penalty kick attempt.
A little more than eight minutes after Love's second goal,
Maddie Howard scored an insurance goal for the Violets, making the score 4-0. The defender headed in a rebound for her first goal of the season.
Michaela Brickley and
Meghan Marhan split the game in goal for NYU and each made three saves to combine for the shutout.
The Facts:
- The Violets have not allowed a goal through two games in the tournament as
Sophia Danielsen shut out William Paterson in the opening round and Brickley and Marhan combined for the quarterfinal shutout.
- Benedict has now recorded a point in 12 of the 18 games she has played in. The Avon, CT, native's assist today gives her five points in the tournament and a team-high 20 this season.
- This marks the third-consecutive season NYU has won at least two postseason games. In 2015, the squad won a pair of games to win the ECAC Metro Tournament and in 2016 it won three before falling in penalty kicks to Springfield College in the Division III ECAC Championship final.
The Violets will take on Grove City College (16-5-0) in next Saturday's semifinal round at 2pm in Springfield, MA.