Release courtesy of King's College Athletics
On a blustery day at Randall's Island the Lady Lions shut out the St. Joseph's Bears 5-0 in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Semi-Finals. The two teams met earlier this month in their regular season conference game with King's prevailing 5-3. TKC was determined not to leave anything to chance in this playoff game with a high scoring back and forth affair and were determined to clamp down defensively against the talented St. Joe's offense. The Bears lead all NCAA teams (D1, D2, D3) with 94 goals behind Cansu Usta's 36 goals which also leads the NCAA. She is helped by Shannon Fahy (19 goals) and Pam Chernyakhovsky (15 goals). St. Joe's had only been shutout once this season prior to this match. TKC is not too far off when it comes to scoring goals as they have 80 for the season. So while many probably expected a shootout, both teams seemed to be concentrating on defense until TKC sophomore captain Genesis Castrellon (Encinitas, CA) fired in a shot 31 minutes into the game for a 1-0 TKC lead. The Lady Lions would break the game open with 3 goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Castrellon would get her 29th goal of the season 4 minutes into the second half for a 2-0 lead on a brilliant header of a Caitlin Essex (Argyle, TX) corner kick. Essex would get her 18th goal of the season less than 2 minutes later for a 3-0 TKC lead. Aleena Cruz (Chula Vista, CA) would add another header off an Essex corner kick and then scored her second goal, her 14th goal of the season, off yet another Essex corner kick play as Essex finished with 3 assists. Victoria McAlister (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) made 3 saves for the TKC shutout as the defense of Erika Hilliard (Euless, TX), Annalise Bourgeois (Woburn, MA), Kylie Locklar (Hagerman, ID) and Marcy Majors (Germany) limited the potent Bears attack to just 8 shots. As the entire TKC team committed to the defense of their goal, the unsung heroes in the midfield were Meg Melvin (Highlands Mills, NY), Maizy Medley (Fircrest, WA), Ariel Mouser (Aiken, SC), Dominique Machain (Carlsbad, CA), Morgan Ewing (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Joanne Isaacs (Easton, PA). TKC will take on Lehman Wednesday in their last regulars season game before meeting Albany Pharmacy in the HVIAC Championship game, a rematch of last year's final which Albany Pharmacy won 3-1.
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Release courtesy of St. Joseph's Athletics
RANDALL'S ISLAND, N.Y. – A second-half offensive eruption helped King's (N.Y.) defeat St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) 5-0 in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) women's soccer semifinals Sunday afternoon at Randall's Island Field 10.
Genesis Castrellon and Aleena Cruz both tallied two goals apiece, while Caitlin Essex netted a goal and dished three assists for the Lions (8-4, 3-1 HVIAC) as they move on to face Albany Pharmacy in the finals next Sunday.
Pamela Chernyakhovsky (Brooklyn, N.Y./Leon M. Goldstein) fired a team-high three shots, while Shannon Rom (Breezy Point, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) registered two shots for the Lady Bears. Senior goalkeeper Nicole Farinella (East Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport HS) made six saves in a losing cause.
It remained scoreless for most of the first half, but then King's got on the board when Castrellon found the back of the net in the 32nd minute following a turnover. The half would end with the Lions up, 1-0.
In the second half, King's exploded for four second-half scores to put the game away. The Lions would score two goals in less than two minutes of play as Castrellon and Essex would extend their lead to three goals. Cruz then added two insurance goals in the 62nd and 72nd minutes, respectively, to round out the game's scoring.
Despite the disappointing end to their playoff run, the Lady Bears (11-4, 2-2 HVIAC) have plenty to be proud of, having already reached the 10-win mark and assembling their winningest season ever.
The season is not over for St. Joseph's as they take on sibling school and future Skyline Conference rivals St. Joseph's (L.I.) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Patchogue. The game originally scheduled for Monday against John Jay has been canceled.
