WORCESTER Mass. – On a blustery day in Massachusetts, Lafayette opened its 2025 Patriot League Women's Soccer Tournament run with a quarterfinal match against Holy Cross. Two overtimes and a shootout were required to reach a decision, the Leopards advancing past the Crusaders, 4-2, in penalty kicks on Sunday at Linda Johnson Smith Stadium. The Maroon and White now advance to the Patriot League Tournament semifinal, their first semifinal appearance since 2016.

The Crusaders started the scoring in the 13^th minute. From the back of the box, Sam Halligan ripped a one-time shot into the goal, giving Holy Cross a 1-0 lead. In the 42nd minute, Lafayette was called for a foul in the box, awarding Holy Cross a penalty kick. Karenna Beckstein took the kick opportunity and placed the ball into the goal, doubling the Crusaders' lead which they held at halftime.

Lafayette had five shots in the first 45 minutes, with two attempts each by junior Nadia Zaffanella and senior Katrina Santelli, and one shot by sophomore Ava Varholak.

Lafayette opened the second half aggressively, with three shots in 60 seconds. Two of the attempts, one by senior Sofia Ruggiero and another by freshman Era Methoxha, were blocked by Holy Cross. The third shot came after a corner kick for the Maroon and White, a shot by Zaffanella that went high.

The Leopards broke into the scoring column in the 63^rd minute. Junior Eva Acker sent a through-ball to Zaffanella who was wide open in front of the goal. The Ellington, Conn. native blasted a shot to the upper right corner of the goal for her eighth score of the season, cutting the Holy Cross lead to 2-1.

The Maroon and White almost tied the match in the 68^th minute as Santelli broke free inside the box and had an open space in front of her, but Santelli's shot went off the crossbar and the Crusaders held on to their 2-1 lead.

In the 80^th minute, the Leopards got another chance to equalize and this time the Maroon and White cashed in, knotting the match at 2-2 with 10 minutes left to play. After a pass was chipped to Zaffanella, who was again open in front of the goal, the 2025 All-Patriot League First-Team selection sent a blistering shot past Holy Cross goalkeeper Aubrey Haesche. The goal by Zaffanella puts her in eighth place for single season all-time goals, tied with Michele Pomarico, Melissa Lynskey and Jill Dozier. Zaffanella is also now in sixth place all-time, with 17 career goals.

With no winner decided after 90 minutes of play, the match headed to overtime. Neither team score either 10-minute overtime session, so the match went to penalty kicks.

Lafayette was up first in the shootout, and senior April McDonald sent the ball into the upper right corner of the goal, putting the Leopards up, 1-0. Holy Cross responded with an attempt by Antriana Mila that found the back of the Lafayette goal and tied the penalty kick session, 1-1.

The Maroon and White then sent Zaffanella to the penalty spot, and the Economics major put Lafayette back in front, 2-1. Holy Cross' second attempt was taken by Abigail Cushing, whose shot went off the crossbar, the first miss for either team. Methoxha was up next and extended the Leopards' lead to 3-1 with a make on the left side of the goal. The Crusaders' Alessia Cerulo's shot also went in, bringing the score to 3-2.

The fourth attempt by Lafayette was by sophomore Jessica Giordanella, whose shot also found the back of the net, keeping the Leopards perfect in the shootout. Sam Halligan took the final attempt for Holy Cross, but her shot went high over the cage, and the Leopards won the shootout, 4-2, taking the match.

Lafayette recorded 21 shots, 11 of which were on goal. The Crusaders had 29 shots, with 12 on goal. The Leopards were led by Zaffanella and Santelli, with seven shots each.

Junior goalkeeper Catherine Apker played all 110 minutes of the match, plus the shootout, recording nine saves, putting her at 97 saves for year. Apker is now first in the Patriot League in saves, the most saves by a Lafayette player since Lauren Smedley had 113 in 2010. Her performance today also put the Homer, N.Y. native in the top 10 for single-season saves for the Maroon and White. Holy Cross goalie, Haesche, also played the full match, with nine saves.

With the win, Lafayette moves on the Patriot League semifinals to take on No. 1 seed and defending Patriot League champion, Boston University, on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Nickerson Field.