BURLINGTON, Vt. – For the third-straight season, Maine is the America East women’ soccer champion, In a back-and-forth 2025 America East Women’s Soccer Championship, Vermont jumped out to a two-goal lead before Maine rallied with goals in both halves to force overtime tied 2-2. Neither team scored in either overtime period, and goalkeeper Elena Barenberg stopped two shootout attempts to lift the Black Bears to their third-straight #AEWSOC Championship title.
Barenberg was honored as the Most Outstanding Player after recording 16 total saves in the tournament, including shutting out No. 1 Binghamton in the semifinal-round and winning a shootout in the championship game.
Maine, the first #AEWSOC team to win three straight titles since Boston University won five in a row from 2007-11, will find out its tournament fate on Monday afternoon in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Selection Show at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com.
How it Happened:
- The Catamounts got on the board early when Emma Warren sent a high shot into the upper-right corner off a cross from Della Weir in the 4th minute.
- Vermont doubled its lead in the 19th minute as Lauren DeGroot beat a pair of Black Bear defenders on a high cross and slipped a low shot past Maine goalkeeper Elena Barenberg.
- The Black Bears responded after a shot in the box was saved by Vermont goalkeeper Kylee Carafoli, but Jordane Pinette corralled the rebound and buried it to make it 2–1.
- Vermont led 2–1 at halftime, though Maine held the advantage in both shots (7–6) and corners (3–0).
- Maine came out pressing in the second half, tying the match in the 53rd minute when Grace Johnson blasted one over Carafoli to make it 2–2.
- In the 76th minute, DeGroot broke through two Maine defenders and found herself in a one-on-one opportunity with Barenberg, but the Maine goalkeeper shut the door to keep the game tied.
- Neither team could break through over the final 37 minutes, as Maine outshot Vermont 8–6 and both sides finished with two second-half corners.
- It remained scoreless through two overtime periods, with Carafoli making a key save to send the game to a shootout.
- In the shootout, the Black Bears converted all four of their penalty kicks, while Barenberg stopped Vermont’s third and fifth attempts to lift Maine to its third-straight #AEWSOC Championship title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Sydney Slusser of Vermont was named the winner of the Elite 18 award for posting the highest GPA of any athlete in the championship. The junior has a 3.98 GPA majoring in public health sciences
All-Championship Team
| UMass Lowll |
Nuala Rodgers |
| New Hampshire |
Abbi Maier |
| UAlbany |
Anna Buckwalter |
| UAlbany |
Allison Falvo |
| Maine |
Madison Luke |
| Maine |
Emily Supple |
| Vermont |
Kylee Carafoli |
| Vermont |
Lauren Degroot |
| Vermont |
Torie Snyder |
| Maine |
Elena Barenberg |
| Maine |
Olivia Grisdale |
| Maine |
Jordane Pinette |
| Maine |
Luise Reinwald |
Follow @AmericaEast on X (Formerly Twitter) to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEFH hashtags to join the conversation.
ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
- America East Conference – Where Champions Rise -