NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Forty-eight hours after falling to ASA, 2-1, in a game that could have cemented the Region 15 championship for Monroe women’s soccer, the two sides met to decide the championship. In front of a boisterous, raucous crowd that was dancing and chanting throughout, the Monroe College women’s soccer team prevailed, 3-1, to earn its second straight Region XV championship, and took a large step closer to repeating as national champions.
Unlike Friday, the defensive line came forward and pressed the ball early on, creating turnovers and scoring chances for Monroe. Brooke Smith in particular was creating chaos and confusion for the Avengers attack.
The pressure led to offensive chances for the Mustangs. In the 14th minute, Maribel Portillo played a long ball to Aline Delima, who tried a chip from way out that went just over the net for a goal kick. About ten minutes later, Delima nearly found the net again. Off a free kick resulting from an ASA foul, Delima knuckled the ball just over the crossbar. The game was scoreless, but Monroe was on the verge of scoring.
Their peskiness was rewarded at 26:27, when Portillo had the ball on the left flank and crossed it to Nicole Rivera, about ten yards from the penalty area. The Avengers’ keeper came off her line to race to the ball, but Rivera chipped the shot over her and into the net for the game’s first goal.
ASA nearly tied the score in the 30th minute. After earning a free kick just outside the penalty area, a blast towards the Monroe net was parried by Jordan Wainwright, on a dive to her right. The sophomore made six saves to earn the win.
Monroe went up 2-0 in the 34th minute. On a long ball, Rivera was on a breakaway, beat the keeper to ball and juked past her to finish in the open net. Rivera was just getting started on the offensive end.
The Mustangs led 2-0 at the half, but the Avengers made a game of it when the scored off a free kick from the top of the penalty area at 70:23. The Monroe lead was trimmed to 2-1. Rivera put the game away four minutes later.
After a long ball from Wainwright, Rivera blazed past defenders and beat the keeper to the near side for her second goal of the contest. Monroe ran the clock out and won the Region XV Championship, 3-1.
The team will now host the District Championship, which is slated to take place on Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8. The Mustangs open the competition by facing Monroe Community College at 10:30 AM on Saturday. The tournament will take place at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York.