FINAL SCORE: Vermont 1, Manhattan 0
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Freshman
Julia Smith scored her second goal in as many games to begin her NCAA career on Sunday afternoon, lifting Vermont to a late 1-0 shutout over Manhattan to close the annual TD Bank Classic at Virtue Field.
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UVM won both its games over the weekend by the combined score of 3-0 and improved to 2-1 on the young season. Manhattan dropped to 1-3 with the loss. New Hampshire claimed the tournament championship with a plus-4 goal differential after beating Central Connecticut 3-0 in the early game on Sunday.
A tight, defensive first half closed with several quality chances.
Coco Speckmaier (four saves) made an important sprawling save with 6:30 left in the half, denying Manhattan's Annie Doerr point blank on a partial breakaway.
Caitie Green followed three minutes later with the Catamounts' best opportunity of the opening period.
Dana Buckhorn slid a pass into the near post for Green, who flicked a quick shot just wide of the left post. UVM held a 10-6 edge in shots at the half.
Colby Snyder nearly opened the scoring near the midway point of the second half. The junior substitute cut to her left foot inside the 18 only to have her initial attempt blocked, then watched her follow up chance sail over the cross bar.
An in-swinging corner from left back
Casey Garfinkel hit the cross bar with 15 minutes to play.
Savana Yurick also missed high with her first-time volley from a Snyder pass eight minutes later, and another quality Yurick chance from the edge of the box was stopped by Kelly DiGregorio.
Smith finally broke the deadlock with only 3:30 remaining on the clock with her second goal of the weekend. The freshman collected a loose ball near the right edge of the Manhattan penalty box before ripping a shot across the face of goal into the far left corner.
Smith nearly added her third of the weekend minutes later, which would have clinched a tie for the tournament title, but DiGregorio made a chest save. Smith was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Green, Speckmaier, and
Meg James.
The Catamounts out-shot the Jaspers by a 3:1 margin (24-8) on the afternoon as Smith posted a game-high seven shots.
Vermont continues a five-game homestand next Sunday (Sept. 4) when it hosts Rhode Island at 6 p.m. Tickets are available online at UVMathletics.com/Tickets, and free live video is available via AmericaEast.TV.
TD BANK CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Shauny Alterisio – Central Connecticut State
Erica Modeno – Manhattan
Mimi Borkan – New Hampshire
Megan Kikosicki – New Hampshire
Brooke Murphy (MVP) – New Hampshire
Kendra Prince – New Hampshire
Lily Radack – New Hampshire
Caitie Green – Vermont
Meg James – Vermont
Julia Smith – Vermont
Coco Speckmaier – Vermont
