Mann goal 2:47 into overtime ends
scoreless stalemate with No. 8 Lock Haven
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. (November
17, 2001) - Top-ranked Franklin Pierce was challenged with
a road-trip to No. 8 Lock Haven University in the NCAA Division II
Women's Soccer Quarterfinal and answered the call with a dramatic
1-0 overtime victory in front of a boisterous 1,062 at McCollum
Field this afternoon.
The Ravens (22-0) advance to the
NCAA semifinals for a record tenth-straight year with its
school-record 22nd win of the season. Franklin Pierce will face the
winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal match between No. 22 University
of North Florida and No. 2 Christian Brothers University to be
played in Memphis, Tenn.
"I think it is a great record to
have ten-straight Final Four appearances," said Franklin Pierce
Head Coach Jeff Bailey. "There have been
a lot of players that have been a part of this with not just one
group carrying us and today showed that it isn't easy to make it
either."
The two sides played an even
90-minutes of play, and while Franklin Pierce carried a 10-5
advantage in shots, Lock Haven made the best of its opportunities,
placing two of its five shots on net and forcing nine corner kicks
to six for the Ravens.
However, the only shot of extra
time found the back of the net as junior Patricia
Keeldar (Amsterdam, Holland/Ter Leede) sent a cross
into the box that found classmate April Mann (Brisbane,
Australia/Saint Thomas More) for a sliding shot that
trickled through the Eagles defense and just past LHU freshman
goalkeeper Ashley Babiarz 2:47 into overtime.
"I don't know how I was able to
make contact," said Mann. "(Christine) Kirby said is was like slow
motion, but I never really saw it go into the net."
"In a game like this it was always
going to be a goal like that that would decide it," said Lock Haven
Head Coach Doug Moore. "You just aren't going to have a spectacular
goal it is going to be a bobbly, wobbly one, but they all count the
same."
Lock Haven seemed poised to avenge
an early-season 6-3 loss to the Ravens in Rindge, on September 2, a
game in which Franklin Pierce held a 6-0 lead after 40-minutes and
6-1 at the intermission.
"They definitely improved," said
Mann "I was afraid of that coming in but I wasn't exactly expecting
overtime either."
"We knew they were very athletic
and the first 20-minutes on the road were going to be tough," said
Bailey. "In the first game, we were able to jump out on them early
and take advantage of some of the open spaces - to their credit,
that didn't happen today."
Mann had the opportunity to give
Franklin Pierce a 1-0 lead with 13-minutes to play in the opening
half after Keeldar sent her in on a breakaway, but her shot from
five-yards out went just wide of the net on the right side.
Junior Angela Verdoes
(Katwijk Aan Zee, Holland/Ter Leede) had an excellent
bid with seven to play in the half, but her blast from 35-yards out
caromed off the crossbar and LHU was able to clear.
Mann skimmed the crossbar 3:10 into
the second half with a shot just inside the box for Franklin
Pierce, but the best chance of the half came for Lock Haven midway
through the second half as freshman Danielle Smith had a wide open
shot with Franklin Pierce keeper Kim Higgins
(Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) out of the net, but Smith
missed wide left.
"As we have gotten closer and
closer here down the stretch the standard of play has improved,"
said Mann. "(A trip to the Final Four) is why I came here, so I'm
happy we got this one today."
Higgins posted two saves in
recording her eighth shutout of the season (16th career), while
Babiarz also registered two saves for the Eagles.
