News Release

NYU Capture Stevens Engineering Cup by Blanking Middlebury, 1-0

Senior forward Sarah Pillemer broke a scoreless tie with 8:44 remaining in regulation, helping the New York University women's soccer team capture the Stevens Institute of Technology Engineering Cup championship with a 1-0 victory over Middlebury College on Sunday in Hoboken, NJ.

Pillemer produced her second goal in as many games as the Violets (2-2) finally broke through after pressuring the Middlebury (0-1-1) defense throughout the second half.

In the process, NYU became the first team other than Stevens Tech to ever capture the Engineering Cup title. Last season, the Violets forged a scoreless tie with the deadlocks, but lost the chance to claim the tournament hardware by succumbing on a penalty-kick tiebreaker.

Over the final 45 minutes, NYU owned an 11-1 edge on shots and a 4-0 advantage on corner kicks against the Panthers.

However, it took to a sequence that started with sophomore midfielder Jane Barrett winning a ball in the midfield. She fed sophomore forward Filiz Kipcakli on a through ball, with Kipcakli connecting with sophomore forward Laura Palumbo. Palumbo, the Defensive MVP of the Cup, fired off a shot that the goalkeeper could not corral, but Pillemer was there to pounce upon it and score the decisive goal.

"It was a great second half," NYU head coach Werner T. Dasbach said enthusiastically. "We stepped up. Everybody stepped it up. We're very proud of the work they did."

All told, the Violets fired off more shots (13-7) and took more corner kicks (6-2), rebounding from a somewhat sluggish start to finish with a flourish.

Sophomore Alex Walters recorded her first collegiate shutout for NYU, making two saves to improve to 2-1. Co-captains Alyssa Simon and Erin Twomey sparked a strong defensive performance in front of Walters.

Adele Plunkett stopped five shots in the loss for Middlebury.

NYU returns to action Friday, Sept. 12, when it travels to face the College of Staten Island at 3:30 p.m.

Submitted 2008-09-08 08:36:53 by New York University Sports Information Department

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