Box Score Castleton, VT - Castleton senior forward Courtney Chadburn (North Clarendon, Vt.) scored with just over 20 minutes in regulation to give the top-seeded Spartans a 1-0 victory over number-three Husson in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Women's Soccer Championship Saturday evening.
The four-time NAC Player of the Year, Chadburn settled a short through pass from classmate Hilary Cooke (Marlborough, Conn.) and chipped home her 19th goal of the season, giving Castleton back-to-back titles.
The Spartans had the better of play for much of the contest, but the Eagle defense held strong and kept the game scoreless until the 70th minute.
In the 11th minute Chadburn played the first of 12 Castleton corner kicks into the box and Sarah Ethier (Portsmouth, R.I.) rose above the crowd, heading a shot past Husson keeper Jessica Poulin (Albion, Maine) who was drawn out by the cross. The appeared destined for the back of the net, but Husson defender
Lauren Marcoux (Shawmut, Maine) was positioned perfectly on the goal line, stopping the shot and clearing it from harm's way.
Not more than 20 minutes later, Chadburn set up for a direct kick from
25 yards out and bent a shot towards the far post out of Poulin's reach, but once again it was a Husson defender to the rescue, this time Meghan O'Neil (Hartford, Vt.) raced in and headed away the shot to keep the game scoreless heading into halftime.
In the second half it was more of the same Spartan pressure, and stout Husson defense, leading to a commanding 28-5 edge in shots for the home squad.
Poulin finished with seven saves, including five in the second half while her counterpart, Ericka Davis (Cambridge, Vt.) turned away the only shot that came her way to earn the shutout.
Husson ends its season at 9-12.
The win gives Castleton a program-record 17 for the season against just four losses. The Spartans earn the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III National Tournament, and will see who they face in their third trip when pairings are announced Monday.
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Stephanie Huntley - Colby-Sawyer
Abby Wills - Colby-Sawyer
Emily Girard - New England College
Veronica Hytner - New England College
Amanda Gifford - Husson
Alexandra Laniewski - Husson
Jessica Poulin - Husson
Ericka Davis - Castleton
Sarah Ethier - Castleton
Kelsesy Lenney - Castleton
Kelly Tetreault - Castleton
MVP Courtney Chadburn - Castleton
