ONEONTA, NY – A hard-fought draw between two talented teams in what turned out to be the de facto championship match of the 17th annual Erinn K. Brozman Cup resulted when Smith College met the Hartwick women's soccer team on Sunday. The Hawks led 1-0 at the break, but conceded a penalty in the second half to wind up with a 1-1 double-overtime draw. As a result, the two teams will share the 2021 Brozman Cup; it is the seventh consecutive such title for Hartwick and the first ever for Smith. On the season, 'Wick moves to 2-0-1 and the Pioneers are now 1-0-1.
There was a lot of back-and-forth play in the first half, but not much for either team in the way of strong scoring chances aside from a few key moments. Sara Staup (Woodinville, WA/Woodinville) kept the Pioneers off the board in the 16th minute, diving to stop a clean look off the foot of Madelyn Boyle. After a handball just outside the top of the box about 15 minutes later, Nicole Casab (Utica, NY/T.R. Proctor) stepped up and drilled a free kick into the top right corner at 31:29 for the 1-0 lead.
Smith equalized just over nine-and-a-half minutes into the second half on a penalty kick goal. After Staup took down a Pioneer in the box and was whistled for a foul, Zufan Bazzano stepped up and slid one into the lower left corner of the net at 54:35 for the tally. The best chance for either side for the rest of regulation was not much of a chance at all; with just under 20 minutes remaining, Smith goalkeeper Naomi Falkenberg mishandled the ball under Gianna Cacciola's (Wading River, NY/Shoreham Wading River) pressure. A frantic Pioneer clear attempt resulted, hitting off Hannah Bochniak's (Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent) chest and trickling out of play for a goal kick.
Smith had the better of play throughout the two extra periods, resulting in two nervy moments for the hosts. The first came in the 98th minute, when the Pioneers won a free kick a few yards out of the top of the box. The resulting effort was lackluster, however, as Boyle's shot was harmlessly grabbed by Staup. The second near game-ender came off the leg of a Hartwick back midway through the second over time, as Staup dove to her right and saw the ball trickle perhaps a foot wide of the net.
Cacciola and Julia Collado (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Huntedon) led all Hawks with three shots, while Bochniak chipped in with two of her own. Staup made four saves throughout her 90 minutes in net.
The Hawks wound up with a healthy shot advantage, at 12-6 overall (including 7 to 3 in the second half). Shots on target, though, were even at five aside. The overall corner kick spread was relatively small, at 10-7, although 'Wick outearned the Pioneers 7-0 in the first half (helped in large part by four in the opening 10 minutes).
Hartwick is right back to it on Wednesday, September 8, as they host Mount Saint Mary on Elmore Field at 7 p.m.
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