SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Following a convincing first-round win on Tuesday night, the Union College women's soccer team has reached the Liberty League Tournament semifinals for the first time in five years and the third-seeded Garnet Chargers will head to second-seeded and IWSOC #15 Vassar College for a Friday morning matchup in Poughkeepsie.
THE TEAMS: Union (7-4-7, 4-1-4 Liberty League) advanced to the semifinals with a 2-0 win over sixth-seeded St. Lawrence University on Tuesday, earning the right to travel to second-seeded Vassar College (10-1-4, 6-1-2 Liberty League). The other semifinal matchup features fourth-seeded Ithaca College (9-4-4, 4-3-2 Liberty League), a 1-0 victor over Rochester Institute of Technology in Tuesday's other first-round matchup, traveling to top-seeded and IWSOC #11 William Smith College (13-3-0, 9-0-0 Liberty League).
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its 14th appearance in the Liberty League Tournament. Tuesday's win snapped a three-game postseason losing streak and moved Union to 10-10-0 all-time in the Liberty League Tournament, including four conference titles in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006.
UNION VS. VASSAR: Union and Vassar will meet for the 49th time on Friday. Union holds a 31-13-4 record in the all-time series, but since 2010 the teams have evenly split their 18 matches (8-8-2). The teams have met twice in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament, with Union earning a 1-0 (OT) win in 2021 after Vassar won 1-0 in 2019, and they have also met once in the ECAC Upstate Tournament, a 5-2 win for Union back in 2004.
LAST MEETING: The Garnet Chargers and then-#9 Brewers battled to a scoreless draw at College Park Field back in early October. The home team was outshot by a 15-2 margin on the night, but an excellent defensive effort and six saves by senior Maya Koster kept the visitors off the scoreboard.
ABOUT UNION: The Garnet Chargers have assured themselves of a third straight winning season and the fifth in six years under head coach Karen Perron. Union's one conference loss during the regular season marks the program's fewest league losses in a season since rolling to a 6-0-1 mark in both 2005 and 2006.
STARTING STRONG: Union has been a nearly perfect team playing from ahead this season, posting a 7-0-1 mark when the Garnet Chargers score the first goal of the match. The team is also undefeated (5-0-0) when scoring two goals or more in a game, winning by a combined margin of 13-2, and is 7-1-2 when scoring at least one goal.
ON THE DEFENSIVE: Union boasts one of the conference's best defensive units, as Union is tied for second in the Liberty League by allowing just 0.56 goals per game (10 in 18 matches), including just three matches allowing more than one goal. The Garnet Chargers have been even better defensively against conference opponents, conceding a conference-low two goals in 10 matches, including nine shutouts. The two goals allowed during the regular season are tied with several William Smith teams for the fewest allowed over an entire conference slate since 2016.
MY OH MAYA: Senior Maya Koster has put together one of the best seasons by a Union goalkeeper in recent program history this season, posting a 0.51 goals against average and .875 save percentage with 10 shutouts in 17 starts. She enters the weekend in third place on the school's single-season shutouts list, as well as ranking sixth in goals against average and tied for seventh in save percentage. The senior has twice been named the Liberty League Defensive Performer of the Week this season.
FIT TO BE TIED: Union's seven ties this year are a program record and are (appropriately) tied for fifth-most in Division III this season. Of the seven draws, four came against nationally ranked opposition, including scoreless stalemates with #9 Middlebury College and #9 Vassar College as well as 1-1 draws with #20 Misericordia University and #19 Hamilton College.
ABOUT THE BREWERS: Vassar has been nationally ranked since mid-September and has only one loss on its ledger this year, a 2-1 defeat to William Smith on October 17. The Brewers boast the stingiest defense in the conference, conceding just five goals in their 15 regular-season matches, while also leading all Liberty League schools by scoring an average of 2.8 goals per game as well. Alice Crowley leads the team with nine goals to rank second in the conference and also has four assists for a conference-best 22 points. Laura Shea paces the league and ranks seventh nationally with a 0.30 goals against average, but has only needed to make 26 saves in 15 appearances.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Union-Vassar winner will advance to the Liberty League Tournament championship on Sunday against William Smith or Ithaca, at the home of the higher seed.
2026 Liberty League Tournament
First Round – Tuesday, November 3, 2026
#4 Ithaca 1, #5 RIT 0
#3 Union 2, #6 St. Lawrence 0
Semifinal Round – Friday, November 6, 2026
#3 Union at #2 Vassar, 11:00 a.m.
#4 Ithaca at #1 William Smith, 1:30 p.m.
Championship Game – Sunday, November 8, 2026
Semifinal Winners at Highest Remaining Seed