ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose women’s soccer team will be seeking its third consecutive berth in the championship game of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament when the Golden Knights host Merrimack College in a semifinal contest on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm at the Albany Academies East Campus.
Saint Rose (19-0-0), which is one of only two (West Florida) unbeaten or untied teams in the country (Division II), arrived at this juncture behind Sunday’s 1-0 victory over the University of New Haven. It was the second year in a row the Golden Knights eliminated the Chargers. This furthermore marks the eighth straight year Saint Rose has advanced to the semifinal round of the league tournament. The Golden Knights garnered the top seed in the eight-team field by earning its fourth consecutive regular season title.
The fourth-seeded Warriors (13-4-3) pulled off a 5-4 victory in a shootout versus fifth-seeded Adelphi University on Sunday after the two clubs played to a 1-1 double-overtime draw. Merrimack drove home all five penalty kicks, while senior keeper Brittany Gustafson stopped the fifth and final attempt by the Panthers to seal things.
The two clubs will meet for the second time this season on Thursday. The Golden Knights upended the host Warriors 4-0 in North Andover, MA on September 19. Saint Rose scored twice in each half, the first coming just 56 seconds into the contest when sophomore forward
Nicola D’Errico fed her twin sister
Gianna D’Errico. Gianna returned the favor 11:02 into the second half as the duo finished with one goal and one assist each. Sophomore keeper
Susan Cowan and junior keeper
Deanna Esposito each played a half and combined to make 11 saves.
The Golden Knights, who are ranked #2 in the latest NSCAA/Adidas Division II poll, own a 7-9-2 record against the Warriors all-time. Merrimack won eight of the first nine meetings between the two teams, but Saint Rose is 6-1-2 in the past nine encounters. The Golden Knights have met Merrimack three times in an NE-10 Tournament semifinal, the last coming in 2007 when Saint Rose took a 2-0 decision. The Warriors previously came up with identical 2-1 victories over the Golden Knights in 2002 and 2003.
Saint Rose has asserted itself through a balanced attack that has seen eighteen different players find the scoring column, including 14 who have recorded at least one goal. Junior midfielder
Amanda Deck and Gianna D’Errico lead the scoring parade. Deck has 18 points behind six goals and six assists, while D’Errico has five goals and a like number of assists for 15 points.
Between the posts, Cowan leads the NE-10 with a 0.16 GAA and a 0.951 save percentage. Junior backs
Katie Whiting,
Kelly Guerin and
Coco Ebersole anchor a defense, along with freshman
Meagan McKinney, that stands second in the nation (NCAA II) with a 0.21 GAA. They have furthermore helped the Golden Knights shutout 12 of their last 13 opponents and tie the single-season school shutout record with 15 clean sheets on the year.
Senior forward Gabrielle Gramprey leads a Merrimack squad that is unbeaten in its last five games (4-0-1), which includes a 1-0 triumph over then 23rd-ranked UMass Lowell on October 28. Gramprey is tied for third in the NE-10 with 33 points. Her 13 goals are also tied for the league’s fourth highest total and her seven assists are tied for second. Junior midfielder Ashley Alnwick and sophomore forward Kara Hennigan have contributed 13 points with six goals and three assists apiece.
Gustafson has put together a 12-3-3 mark in goal where she owns a 0.69 GAA with 85 saves and four shutouts. She additionally ranks third among NE-10 keepers with a 0.885 save percentage.
Admission to Thursday’s game will be $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and children and $1 for students from NE-10 institutions.