PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Sophomore forward
Lauren Vellecca (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) tallied her first collegiate goal as Plattsburgh State women's soccer defeated SUNY Canton 3-0 in its regular-season finale on Tuesday night at the Field House Complex.
In the first half of the match, Plattsburgh State (9-7-1) outshot SUNY Canton (4-12-1) 22-0 and scored the only goal of the half to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. A Cardinal corner kick in the 32nd minute bounced off of a Kangaroo and to the feet of senior defender
Sarah Bonner (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) on the right side of the 18-yard box. She dribbled to the top-right corner of the six-yard box and played a pass across that bounced to Vellecca in front of the net. Vellecca finished with a right-footed strike into the lower-right portion of the goal for her first collegiate goal and Bonner tallied the assist. It would also turn out to be Vellecca's first career game-winning goal.
Plattsburgh State maintained control of the match in the second half – outshooting Canton 28-0 and adding two more goals to make the final score 3-0. In the 52nd minute, senior forward
Katie Matott (Rouses Point, N.Y./Beekmantown) scored her fifth goal of the season for the Cardinals' second goal of the match. Matott ran onto a through ball from senior midfielder
Amanda Steinman (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) and dribbled into the 18-yard box. Matott made a move on a defender to get to the left side of the six-yard box and looped a shot over the head of the Canton goalkeeper for the goal.
The final goal of the match was scored by junior midfielder
Abigail Seamans (Bolton Landing, N.Y./Bolton Central) in the 76th minute. Seamans played a give-and-go pass to a teammate, who played the ball forward as Seamans made a run. The return pass deflected off a couple of Kangaroo defenders and back to Seamans, who controlled the ball in the 18-yard box, dribbled in on goal and finished with a right-footed strike into the lower-right corner of the goal for her third goal of the season.
Plattsburgh State outshot SUNY Canton 50-1 in the match, including a 25-0 advantage in shots on goal. Plattsburgh State also had a 19-1 advantage in corner kicks. The Cardinals' shot, shots on goal and corner kick totals were all season highs.
Freshman goalkeeper
Julia Ennis (Carmel, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) (8-7-1) started in goal for the Cardinals and played the first 73:52 of the match. Senior
Tina Bedard (Morrisonville, N.Y./Saranac) played the final 16:08 of the match in goal for Plattsburgh State. Freshman Victoria Hannah (4-10-1) made a career-high 22 saves for Canton.
Fourth-seeded Plattsburgh State is slated to host fifth-seeded SUNY Potsdam in the first round of the SUNYAC Tournament at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Field House Complex.
