FINAL SCORE: Vermont 0, Stony Brook 0 | Catamounts 3-1 in PK's
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – For the first time since 2012, a No. 6 seeded team knocked off a No. 3 seeded team in in the America East quarterfinals. The sixth-seeded Catamounts advanced past third-seeded Stony Brook by winning the penalty kick battle, 3-1, on Thursday night in the America East quarterfinal matchup.
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Vermont advances to the semifinal round for the third time in program history and for the second straight season.
The Catamounts came out of the game with high intensity and were on the offensive attack in the opening minutes. Vermont forced the tempo and set up a potential scoring chance with a corner kick. From the corner,
Sarah Martin lofted a cross in front of the goal where
Caitie Green leaped up for a header, but Green's shot bounced wide right.
On the other end of the field, Raven Edwards received a through ball and marched forward into the box. The senior put a right-footed touch on the ball, but the shot sailed harmlessly to the left.
In the 12th minute,
Brooke Jenkins battled through the Stony Brook defense to the near post and tried to chip a shot past goalie Cara Gallagher (7 saves), but the attempt was stopped by the sophomore keeper for the save.
UVM's defense stepped up in the second half as Stony Brook attempted seven shots and six corners.
As the game shifted to overtime, the momentum began to swing in the Catamounts' favor. Vermont's offense outshot Stony Brook, 5-2 during the extra sessions. At the end of double overtime, the scored read all zeros and was headed to a shootout.
In the shootout, Stony Brook started with a miss but
Meg James countered for UVM with the first point. James lined a shot into the top left corner of the net.
Coco Speckmaier (2 saves) came up huge for the Catamounts with a big save against Edwards.
Casey Garfinkel kept the advantage in UVM's favor by scoring a goal and giving Vermont a 2-0 lead.
The Seawolves cut the deficit in half with Speckmaier nearly making another clutch save. Priscilla Wiggins lined a shot to the right side and Speckmaier guessed correctly, but the shot deflected off the keeper's gloves and into the back of the net.
After a pair of misses by each side, Green pushed the Cats into the semifinal round with the game-winning goal. Green fired her attempt into the left side of the net past a diving Gallagher.
Vermont travels to No. 2 seeded Hartford on Sunday (Oct. 30) at 2 p.m. for the America East semifinal. Free live video is available in HD via AmericaEast.TV.