Brockport’s women’s soccer team celebrated seniors Sophia DeAngelo, Karlie Mann, Jaylah Cossin and Ellie George. As expected, it was the seniors who made major impacts in their 3-1 victory over the Potsdam Bears.
Mike Idland is in his eighth season as the head coach of the women’s soccer team. This is his most successful season since coming to Brockport, doubling his previous career high in wins in a season.
“I think it meant a lot for the team as much as it did the seniors,” Idland said. “They [seniors] have a big impact. They’re big time players, and also have special personalities. It’s never the kind of thing you can replace. It will not be the same.”
The Golden Eagles already clinched a spot in the SUNYAC Playoffs and are currently ranked second in the conference. They finished the regular season with a record of 12-2-4, and haven’t lost since Sept. 27. They were able to more than double their win total from last season.
“I’m super proud of the group, really, really successful season,” Idland said. “The team has shown a little bit of everything. We’ve been able to play as front runners, games where we’re toe to toe, we’ve been resilient and we’ve even played a game where we clawed back. We’ve shown all those things you need to win a championship, so I feel good about it.”
Brockport dominated this game both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. They registered 17 shots while only allowing Potsdam to three.
Brockport’s offensive pressure started early. The Golden Eagles entered and stayed in Potsdam territory up until their first shot of the game. The offense wasn’t slowing down after that. Brockport was still generating good shots but couldn’t get them in the net. The team took three more shots in the first 20 minutes of the game with one of them being saved.
Finally, at the 20 minute mark, Brockport was able to capitalize on their fifth shot of the game on a goal by Amelia Breton, assised by Mann.
Potsdam was able to get their first and only shot of the first period 24 minutes into the game but didn’t find the back of the net. Brockport responded strongly, particularly Mann who put up two shots in eight seconds but both were blocked.
The next minute DeAngelo checked into the game and made her mark quickly. Just past a minute after subbing in, there was a senior to senior connection with DeAngelo passing to Jaylah Cossin who was able to shoot the ball into the bottom right corner for the goal.
“Sophia found me on a perfect ball while on the run, and I took a tap around and saw the far side was open and just went for it,” Cossin said.
This was Cossin’s 10th goal of the season which ranks third in the SUNYAC conference.
For the rest of the first period, both teams struggled offensively. Only one more shot was put up the rest of the period and it was from Brockport, who finished the period with nine shots total.
In the second period, the Golden Eagles started shooting just two minutes in. Shortly after that, with a free kick opportunity, Katie Hotaling found Mann in the box. Mann, with her head, found the net and secured the goal.
For the rest of the game, Brockport registered four more shots. However, Potsdam was able to get on the board. Emma Wilson found Sarah Emmi who tipped it into the net off of a wild free kick from midfield.
Prior to the Potsdam goal, Brockport made a goalie switch. Madeline McCrossen finished her terrific regular season allowing just four goals, and a save percentage of .935, both best in the SUNYAC.
Brockport hadn’t scored in the previous two games, so being able to score three times was pivotal with the SUNYAC Playoffs starting next week. Mann attributes their success to something simple.
“We just connected more, we passed the ball more,” Mann said. “We just moved a lot more fluid together, and it ended up working today.”
Brockport was able to continue their momentum with the playoffs approaching. Winning and finishing strong at the most important time of the year was important to them.
“It was a great finish to our regular season. It puts a good cap on the season we’ve had so far. It’s good to go into SUNYAC’s with a win under our belt,” Cossin said.
With the regular season in their rear view mirror, the number two seeded Golden Eagles look ahead to Wednesday, Nov. 1, to see who will be coming to their nest in their semifinal matchup.
