A historic regular season for the Union University women’s soccer team ended with a win and a loss in the final weekend. Union clinched playoffs from their win on the final weekend of regular season play. This is the first time they have made playoffs since 2016. To top off the season, their goalkeeper Riley Iorio, graduate mathematics major, is the new record holder for most saves ever for Union.
A comfortable 6-0 win against Shorter University to kick off the weekend was the perfect game to clinch playoff soccer for the girls. During the game, Iorio made her 296th career save to be the new record holder. The scoring fest started with Hannah Patterson, senior nursing major, in the 20th minute. Ava Duval, senior nursing major, followed her up in the 28th minute to make it 2-0. Madison Woolridge, sophomore cyber security major, added a pair of goals in the 69th and 79th minute. Lucia Revuelto, freshman chemistry major, also had a pair of goals in the 68th and 78th minute.
Union found themselves on the other side of the score sheet on Sunday against number three in the nation Lee University. Losing 4-0 was not the ending Union was looking for, but the team learned the small pieces that need to be fixed for their playoff game coming up.
Iorio not only beat the record for most saves but will continue to add to the record with at least one more game, hoping to reach 300 saves to be among only six other division two women goalkeepers. She finished the season with five clean sheets, putting her third in the league. She leads the league in saves per game with 5.15. Iorio was nothing but smiles when asked about being the new record holder.
“It feels very surreal, I love playing for this University,” Iorio said. “It’s been a blessing to represent it so the fact that I hold a record is very exciting.”
Even with the final loss Union still finished fifth in the conference giving them a winnable first playoff game against fourth-place Montevallo. Union lost to them in the regular season 2-0 at home but have hopes they learned from the loss. Playing a team twice in the same season even with a loss makes it a much more tactical game since both teams know what to expect.
Woolridge is the leading goal scorer for Union with six goals in only 565 minutes this season. She explains how the team is preparing for this playoff game against a familiar opponent.
“Our plan is to attack Montevallo head-on and give them everything we’ve got,” Woolridge said. “We feel that last time we played them, we gave them the win. We feel we can beat them, but we can’t get distracted.”
Union made a huge statement this season by finishing 7-6 in conference play. No small feat in a very good Gulf South Conference led by number three in the nation Lee University and number nine in the nation West Florida. Followed up by Mississippi College, which got votes for top 25 in the nation as well. Union proved they belong in playoffs and can make a run for a conference championship.
The Bulldogs will start post-season play at University of Montevallo on Nov. 4.