America East semifinals: Albany stuns UVM men's soccer
A week ago, Albany dashed the University of Vermont men's soccer team's hopes of the top seed for the America East playoffs with a 0-0 draw in regular-season finale.
Thursday, Albany buried Vermont's chances of back-to-back conference tournament titles.
Jeff Thielmann's goal in the 81st minute broke a stalemate as the No. 3 Great Danes shocked the second-seeded Catamounts for a 1-0 win in the league semifinals in front of 1,532 at Virtue Field.
Albany (6-7-6) will play at No. 1 New Hampshire in Sunday's championship game. Vermont (13-3-2), ranked eighth in the country at the start of the week and 10th in the latest RPI rankings, will wait to learn if it will qualify for the NCAA Tournament as one of the 25 at-large selections. The 48-team field will be unveiled Monday.
"We’ll see on Monday and what the (NCAA Tournament selection committee) decides," UVM coach Rob Dow said. "I’m proud of our body of work this season. I’m proud of the big teams we beat and we’re hoping the NCAA selection committee looks at that."
Shafique Wilson worked a five-save shutout for Albany. Nate Silveira, the league's two-time goalkeeper of the year, made a pair of saves for UVM, which gained advantages in shots (18-4) and corners (7-1) and decidedly controlled possession throughout the 90 minutes.
Albany's lone goal came on a counter, with Elias Ehlin threading a cross for Thielmann, who made a far-post run to knock in for a one-time finish.
"The performance was a good performance. Everyone know when you play a team that sits back, you really reveal yourself on the back end," Dow said. "So you gotta play with courage and we really did in the second half. We were committed to being brave and we were and the ball didn’t go in the back of the net."
The Catamounts took advantage of a strong tailwind in the first half, pouring numbers forward with high-quality chances. The first came on a Garrett Lillie cross to Max Murray, whose header fell softly to Wilson.
Another service, this one via Ymir Már Geirsson from the left side, found Yaniv Bazini on a free run into the box. But Bazini's header soared over the crossbar.
The hosts kept the pressure on the second stanza. Joe Morrison's curling blast inside the box was pawed away by Wilson. Another close-range Murray header cleared the crossbar. And Morrison's run through Albany's defense was broken up by Wilson, who flew off his line to deny the crafty and quick UVM midfielder.
In other instances, Albany's team defense, which stacked the 18 with defenders, made it difficult for UVM to find space for shots or passing lanes.
"It wasn’t a surprise to us, it was going to be difficult to score," Dow said. "But you gotta step up and make a play in those moments. That’s the hard reality of it. We needed to finish, but it doesn’t define us."
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UVM midfield star Alex Nagy, recently named to the America East first team for a third straight season, entered the contest with about 23 minutes to play. The senior did not start due to an injury and his status for Thursday was "if really needed."
Nagy's best look came in the final minute, but his right-footed kick inside the 18 sailed wide.
"Credit to him for being brave going in and giving us some opportunities," Dow said.
Dow and UVM are "preparing for what's next," should they receive an at-large bid.
"We’re not shutting it down here," the sixth-year UVM coach said.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: UVM men's soccer: Albany stuns Catamounts in America East semifinal
