Campus News
October 28st, 2025
Lakers fall in double-overtime playoff
Vales’ goal overcomes Alonso’s hat trick for first-year GC team
Photo by Sadie Crowell
Garrett College’s Jorjalynn Ward moves the ball with Potomac State College’s Andrea Alderman in pursuit during last Tuesday night’s 1-1 women’s soccer tie.
Keyser, WV – Jean Wicarl Vales scored off a loose ball in front of the net 1:15 into the second overtime Saturday afternoon, lifting third-seeded Potomac State College of West Virginia University to a 4-3, sudden-death victory over sixth-seeded Garrett College in the NJCAA Division II Region 20 men’s soccer quarterfinals.
Vales’ winning score came after GC goalkeeper Wyatt Hull and a Catamount forward got to a ball simultaneously, with the ball hitting both Hull’s hands and the Potomac State player’s head. The carom rolled to Vales, who pushed the ball just over the goal line ahead of a GC defender’s clear attempt.
“The end of the game was tough,” acknowledged GC head coach Jonathan Price. “The reality is, this is a young team and we’ve got a lot of guys who are planning to come back. They want to go further.”
Vales’ game-winner overcame a three-goal effort by Lucas Alonso, who scored the first hat trick in Garrett College’s men’s soccer history. The Lakers – with a roster comprised exclusively of first-year collegiate performers – finished their inaugural season with a 5-10 record.
Saturday’s contest was the second one-goal game between the regional rivals in five days. Potomac State (9-3-1) had pulled out a 1-0 win over the Lakers last Tuesday as Vales scored the game’s only goal to set up the quarterfinal meeting.
PSC took a quick, 1-0 lead in the rematch as Mateo Miranda scored unassisted in the game’s sixth minute. Alonso responded with two goals in less than two minutes, the first courtesy of a Ben Lohr feed, as the Lakers grabbed a 2-1 halftime advantage.
The Catamounts appeared to steal the win when Miranda and Harper Furioso scored just 43 seconds apart to give PSC a 3-2 advantage with less than 13 minutes remaining. Alonso, however, found the back of the net for the third time with three minutes left to force the game to overtime.
Potomac State dominated the first overtime with a 7-1 shots advantage – including two shots off the goal post – but couldn’t produce the game-winner. Vales finally ended the contest, and GC’s season, with his double-overtime goal.
Hull helped keep the Lakers in the game, recording 15 saves, while winning goalkeeper Justin Leclerc stopped five of eight shots. Potomac State finished with a 19-8 edge in shots on goal and a 32-16 advantage in total shots.
“We had a great season,” said Price. “When I was hired, I set three goals: Score a goal, win a game, qualify for the playoffs. We had done that by our 10th game. Then we went in and put up a great fight in the playoffs.”
PSC-WVU 1, GC 0
Jean Wicarl Vales scored unassisted with 35 minutes remaining last Tuesday night as the Catamounts triumphed in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Potomac State College of West Virginia University (8-3-1 overall, 8-2-1 region) finished third in the NJCAA Division II Region 20 standings. That gave PSC a quick quarterfinal rematch with the Lakers (5-9, 5-6), who earned the sixth seed thanks to their advantage in the head-to-head tiebreaker with Allegany College of Maryland (5-9, 5-6).
Garrett College goalkeeper Wyatt Hull stopped three of the four shots he faced.
Women’s Soccer,Region Quarterfinals
CSM 10, Garrett 0
La Plata, MD – Sara Allwine scored three goals and Amber Jones collected two goals and two assists as the top-seeded Hawks (12-3-1 overall, 8-0-1 region) blanked the Lady Lakers in Saturday’s NJCAA Division II Region 20 quarterfinal.
Abby May had a goal and an assist for the Hawks, who finished with a 31-1 advantage in shots. GC goalkeeper Ada White had 10 saves on 20 shots on goal; CSM goalie Kylie Smith did not have to make a save in earning the shutout.
GC finished its third season with a 2-12-1 record.
Regular-Season Finale
GC 1, PSC-WVU 1
McHenry, MD – Lindsay Mowry’s penalty-kick goal with 16 minutes remaining last Tuesday night allowed the visiting Catamounts to salvage a tie with host Garrett College.
The Lady Lakers took a 1-0 lead on Jacquelyn Jeffreys’ goal with 18 minutes remaining in the opening half. Each team finished with seven shots on goal as Potomac State College goalkeeper Hadley Courtney and GC netminder Ada White each recorded six saves.
Garrett had a 12-8 margin in overall shots while the Catamounts finished with a 6-3 advantage in corners.
