Ravens road to 10th-straight
semifinal and sixth National Title goes through Poconos
RINDGE, N.H. (November 12,
2001) - If the top-ranked Franklin Pierce (21-0) women's
soccer team is to make its tenth-straight NCAA semifinal
appearance, it will have to come up with a big road victory as the
Ravens will travel to Lock Haven, Pa., to face No. 8 Lock Haven
University (18-3) in an NCAA Division II women's soccer
quarterfinal match on Saturday at noon.
The Ravens, ranked No. 1 in the
nation, enter the quarterfinals unbeaten with a school-record 21
wins, including a 6-3 decision over Lock Haven in their season
opener on September 2. Lock Haven is making its second NCAA
quarterfinal appearance in school history, both of which have come
against Franklin Pierce.
Franklin Pierce advanced to the
quarterfinals with a dramatic 2-1 overtime win over No. 13
Merrimack
College on Saturday. Freshman
midfielder Meghan Welcome (Haverhill,
Mass./Haverhill) netted the gamewinning goal 6:21
into overtime with a 35-yard free-kick near the left sideline that
found the upper-right corner of the net. Franklin Pierce had a 1-0
lead until the Warriors were able to knot the score with just 4:46
remaining in regulation. Welcome earned NE-10 Freshman of the Week
honors this afternoon for her efforts in the win.
It marked just the second time the
Ravens have been tied in a game after taking a lead - the first
coming on October 8 when the College of Saint Rose knotted its
match at 1-1 early in the first half before eventually falling 3-1.
Franklin Pierce has still yet to
trail in a match this season, having outscored the opposition 99-17
overall, including 48-2 in the first half. One of the teams that
scored on Franklin Pierce in the opening half this season was Lock
Haven, who got on the board just before halftime after the Ravens
had built a 6-0 lead.
Franklin Pierce is led on offense
by junior Patricia Keeldar (Amsterdam, Holland/Ter
Leede), the Northeast-10 Player of the Year, with a
Conference-best 69 points and 30 goals to go along with nine
assists. Junior Angela Verdoes (Katwijk Aan Zee,
Holland/Ter Leede) and classmate April
Mann (Brisbane, Australia/Saint Thomas More) are
ranked right behind Keeldar among the NE-10 scoring leaders with 47
and 45 points, respectively. Verdoes has 16 goals to go along with
15 assists, while Mann has totaled 16 goals and 13 assists.
Grad student Kim
Higgins (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) has backboned the
Ravens defense and has posted a Conference-low 0.44 goals against
average and .828 save percentage with seven shutouts in 1,027
minutes of play.
Lock Haven also needed overtime to
advance to this weekend's quarterfinal match. The Eagles got the
gamewinning goal 8:14 into extra time to defeat Slippery Rock
University on Saturday. LHU led 1-0 at the intermission and after
Slippery Rock tied the match midway through the second half, the
Eagles regained the lead with just 4:02 remaining in regulation
only to have SRU convert a goal off a corner kick with 30-seconds
left on the clock. Junior Katie Taylor netted the gamewinning goal
and assisted on the other two LHU goals to lead the offense.
Taylor leads the Eagles with 39
points on 13 goals and 13 assists, while sophomore Naomi Clarke has
added 32 points with 12 goals and eight assists. Freshman Brooke
Rangi has chipped in 26 points (10 gls, 6 asts).
Freshman goalkeeper Brandie Kessler
has seen the majority of minutes in net and sports a 1.24 goals
against average in 1,159 minutes of action.
Saturday will mark the fifth
meeting all-time between the two programs, the second this season
and second in NCAA Tournament play. Franklin Pierce leads the
all-time series, 4-0, including the 6-3 decision on September 2.
Three Ravens making their debut in the match led the way as Welcome
recorded a goal and two assists, junior Kamille
Rosenfalck (Copenhagen, Denmark/Frederiksberg
Boldklub) totaled a goal and an assist, while Mann
dished two helpers. Franklin Pierce and Lock Haven met in the 1999
NCAA Quarterfinals and the Ravens posted a 3-1 win en route to
their fifth National Championship.
The winner of Saturday's match will
advance to the NCAA Division II Final Four and will face the winner
of this weekend's match between South Region Champion Christian
Brothers University, ranked No. 2 in the nation, and Southeast
Region Champion University of North Florida, ranked 22nd.
2001 NCAA Division II Women's
Soccer Championship
New England
Regional
Wednesday, November 7:
#2 Merrimack 3, #3 Bryant 2 - 2OT
Saturday, November
10:
#1 Franklin Pierce 2, #2 Merrimack 1 - OT
NCAA
Quarterfinal
Saturday, November 17:
#1 Franklin Pierce at #8 Lock Haven University, Noon
NCAA
Semifinal:
Friday, November 30:
FPC/Lock Haven winner vs. Christian Brothers/North Florida winner
NCAA Division II
Championship:
Sunday, December 2
