Box Score
ORANGEBURG, N.Y. – Felician College freshman stopper Kristen Toropiw (Hopatcong, NJ) scored her first two collegiate goals, including the go-ahead tally early in the second half, to lead the Golden Falcons to a 3-1 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory over host Nyack College on Sunday night at the OMM Complex. It was the final match of the regular season for both schools.
Felician (11-5-1, 9-3 CACC) had already locked up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming CACC Tournament. With the victory, the Golden Falcons eliminate Nyack (6-11, 6-6) from playoff contention and draw Dominican (N.Y.) College as their first-round playoff opponent on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in Lyndhurst, N.J.
On Sunday, the teams went into halftime tied, 1-1, but the game stayed deadlocked for less than five minutes of the second period. At 49:21, Toropiw collected a pass from Alysia Arcona (Hackettstown, NJ/Hackettstown) above the 18-yard box and lofted a shot that fell just under the crossbar. She sealed the victory with 26 seconds to play by scoring from even further out, playing a high ball into the box from just inside midfield that Nyack goalkeeper Maddy Barbarino (Staten Island, NY) caught while standing inside the net.
In between, the Felician defense fended off several strong opportunities from the Warriors, as the hosts owned a 13-8 shot advantage. Junior keeper Allie Couzo (Sayreville, NJ) earned the victory with seven saves. Barbarino stopped three shots for the Warriors.
The visitors scored first on Stephanie Jimenez's (Fair Lawn, NJ) 10th goal of the season in the 17th minute, but it was matched by Nyack fewer than five minutes later when Ashlee Hayes (Phoenix, AZ) knocked home a rebound. Defender Jenn Hesse (Lincoln Park, NJ) kept Felician even at the half when, in the closing minutes of the first period, she cleared a ball off the goal line on a Nyack corner kick opportunity. It was one of eight corners that Felician successfully defended.
