Paltsios Goal, Three Assists Leads University of Albany Women's Soccer to Crush Siena 5-1 - UAlbany Sports 2014

Courtesy: UA Sports ALBANY, N.Y. – Led by a goal and three assists from Caitlyn Paltsios, the UAlbany women’s soccer team dominated Capital District-rival Siena 5-1 to earn its first win of the year. “It is a huge win and turning point for us mentally,” said UAlbany coach Caitlin Cucchiella. “It proves that all the work we have done over the year has paid off. I could not be more proud of the valiant effort and dedication to commit to getting the W tonight.” Paltsios earned a career-high five points in the match for UAlbany (1-2) and set a new program-DI record with three assists in a game. “I am very excited about the win, we came out strong and did not let up,” said Paltsios. “The whole team worked well together tonight.” Four other Great Danes scored their first goal of the year: Kiana Rugar netted the first goal of the game, followed by Shelby Belak, Vivian Vega and Bianca Webb. Alana Brennan earned the victory in goal with five saves, earning her eighth victory in her career to move into second all-time in UAlbany DI history. It is the first win for UAlbany over Siena (1-3) since 2005, when the Great Danes won 2-0 at home. “I truly believe we have turned a corner, and I could not be more excited for the remainder of the season,” said Cucchiella. Cassy Landis scored Siena’s lone goal in the second half, assisted by Tara Sobierajski. Taylor Booth got the loss with five goals allowed and four saves. Siena was the aggressor early, getting off the game’s first three shots. In the 15th minute, Madison Vasquez got off a hard shot, but Brennan made the save to hold the stalemate. UAlbany countered the other way and saw Alexa Schneider make a shot past the diving keeper in the next minute, but the ball deflected off the post and out of bounds. The ball stayed in the UAlbany offensive half as the team drew two corners, but did not get off a shot. Later in the 27th minute, Stephanie Nelle got clear and fired a shot from 15 yards out, but the ball went high. In the 37th minute, a shot from Leanne Miller was blocked right to Vega on the left side. Vega kicked the ball past the keeper, but a Siena defender behind the goalie knocked the ball away. UAlbany stayed aggressive and got a corner kick attempt from Paltsios, and with 37:35 elapsed, Rugar headed the ball into the net to give UAlbany a 1-0 lead. Siena got a chance on a shot from Kensey Waterman in the 40th minute with Brennan making the save. UAlbany went into the locker room up 1-0. Into the second half, a free kick into the box found an open Vega eight yards out straight away, but the header went above the net in the 50th minute. The team got another chance six minutes later, but Schneider’s header also missed. Third time was a charm as on a free kick cross, Paltsios found Belak for the header goal, giving UAlbany a 2-0 lead with 58:03 elapsed. Siena was quick to respond. UAlbany knocked away two corner kicks in a span of 12 seconds, but a third attempt in the 61st minute was headed in by Landis to pull the visitors within one at 2-1. UAlbany got a couple of breakaway attempts in the following minutes, with shots from Morgan Loder and Fitzpatrick going high. In the 73rd minute, Siena tried to counter after a UAlbany corner with a Michele Trembley breakaway, but Brennan saved her attempt. The other way, Vega was set up for a header, with Booth making a punch save. Vega got the ball right back and kicked the ball inside the left post for the score at the 74:39 mark, putting UAlbany up 3-1. UAlbany stayed aggressive and saw shots from Loder and Vega saved by Booth. In the 83rd minute, Paltsios received the ball from 20 yards out, fired and placed the ball inside the right post past a diving Booth for the goal, making it 4-1 UAlbany. Siena got its last shot off in the game from Maria Jones in the following minute, kicking it wide of the right post. Webb missed a header in the 86th minute but got another chance in the 90th, with a Paltios corner going to her. Webb headed the ball in for the score, setting the eventual final score at 5-1 UAlbany. UAlbany will finish up its homestand on Friday at 5 p.m., taking on in-state foe Iona at Bob Ford Field.