Having reserved a spot in America East playoffs, women’s soccer sustained their first conference loss — 1–0 to No. 6 University of Massachusetts Lowell — with 90 seconds left in Sunday’s Senior Day game.
Still second in the conference, the team’s full attention is on their recovery this week, as two matches count down to the end of the regular season.
Senior midfielder Sydney Remington leaned into her first shot some 25 yards deep, tipped onto the crossbar by Lowell’s keeper in the 17th minute. Remington sits third in America East goals this season and stayed on the hunt against Lowell Sunday.
The River Hawks had a glimpse of Vermont’s net in a one-on-one with senior goalkeeper Kylee Carafoli, who made one of seven total rejections against Lowell, tying her record this season.
Wind gusts reached 31 mph by halftime, a definite factor in Vermont’s accuracy passing to teammates, said senior forward Lauren DeGroot.
Remington took a duplicate shot in the 64th minute, meeting the crossbar again from outside Lowell’s box. Vermont’s third crossbar hit by DeGroot would be their last look at a win in the 86th minute.
Lowell set the final score two minutes later, narrowly beating Vermont to a tap in.
“I definitely think we were run down a bit from Thursday and just not fully recovered,” said head coach Kristi Huizenga. “It definitely showed up, especially on the attacking side today.”
Vermont visits the top-ranked Binghamton University Bearcats on Oct. 26, and finishes the regular season at the University of Albany on Oct. 30. Two wins on the road would tack a final six unclaimed points onto the Cats’ record before playoffs take shape.
“That’s a game I’ve definitely had marked on my calendar,” DeGroot said.“With this emotion behind us, we’re going to put that into fuel in our training and take it to Binghamton.”
The five players celebrated for this year’s Senior Day have a hand in Vermont’s third straight playoff appearance this season. The America East women’s soccer tournament starts on Nov. 2, and Vermont is due for a rebound, DeGroot said.
“It’s just gonna be the same message that we’ve had all season: just one game at a time,” coach Huizenga said.
