Herkimer Women advance to Region IIIA Championship with 3-2 over Hudson Valley

Herkimer, NY - The last time the Herkimer Generals and Hudson Valley Vikings met up in women's soccer, it was a 2-2 overtime tie on Sept 26. On Thursday, it looked like the two teams were heading in that direction again. Until Kristen Purcell decided there would be no extra period this time. 

On a cold afternoon at Wehrum Stadium, Purcell (Sauquoit, NY) scored a spectacular goal with 1:26 remaining in the second half to lift the Generals to a 3-2 win over the Vikings in the Region IIIA semifinal. With the win, the Generals improve to 12-3-1 on the year and advance to the Region IIIA Championship game on Sunday afternoon. 

It was a back and forth game throughout as Ashley Capron (Burnt Hills, NY) opened the scoring, with an assist from Sarah George (Little Falls, NY) with 32:09 left in the first half to give Herkimer a 1-0 lead. The Vikings answered a minute later with a goal by Kaitlyn Nadeau. The teams took that 1-1 score into halftime. The second half saw George give Herkimer the lead with 26:04 remaining off an assist from Purcell. But Hudson Valley fought back and evened up the game on a goal by Brooke Clough. The game went down to the last two minutes before Purcell took a pass from Annie Thorp (Hilton, NY) and put home the game winner.  

Next up for the #9 ranked Generals is a matchup with the # 1 ranked team in the nation, the Erie Community College Kats, on Sunday afternoon in the Region IIIA Championship at Tompkins-Cortland Community College in Dryden, NY. This will be a rematch of the game on Sept 22 in Buffalo, NY where Erie beat Herkimer by a score of 5-4. Game time for the Region IIIA Championship is set for 3:00 PM on Sunday.