Sauren's first half hat trick sinks Ravens

LA JOLLA, Calif. (November 29, 2001) - Junior forward Margaret Sauren netted three first half goals in a 25-minute span to spark No. 2 Christian Brothers University to a 4-1 victory over No. 1 Franklin Pierce in the NCAA Division II women's soccer semifinals hosted by University of California San Diego tonight.

Christian Brothers (22-0) advances to Sunday's NCAA Division II Championship match where they will meet the winner of tonight's late match between No. 4 Northern Kentucky University and No. 5 UC-San Diego.

Franklin Pierce finished its season with a 22-1 record, which includes a new school record for victories in a season that matches the NCAA Division II mark. Franklin Pierce, which has advanced to a record ten-straight final fours, has now finished in third place in three of the last four seasons.

Suaren opened the scoring in the 15th minute when she converted a free-kick from 25-yards out that deflected off the left post and found the back of the net.

The CBU goal marked the first time Franklin Pierce had trailed in a match this season and came moments after CBU's standout forward Missy Gregg was sidelined with a first degree ankle sprain. Gregg entered the game holding NCAA Division II records with 72 goals and 154 points.

"I actually thought it was broken," said Gregg after the match. "I felt shooting pains up my shins. I guess my muscles spasmed and made it feel worse than it was."

Gregg would eventually return after halftime, but the game was out of Franklin Pierce's reach as Sauren added two more first half goals to take a 3-0 lead by halftime.

Senior Tracey Mulligan set up the Buccaneers second goal as she sent in a cross that found Sauren, who settled the ball before finding the lower left-hand corner of the net at 37:16.

"I actually think Gregg's injury may have caught us more off-guard," said Franklin Pierce
Head Coach Jeff Bailey. "We seemed to lose our focus a little bit."

Suaren rounded out the first half scoring when she converted a penalty kick in the 41st minute. She was credited with the shot after Franklin Pierce freshman midfielder Martta Makila (Vantaa, Finland/Makelanrinne) committed a foul near the top of the box. The Ravens were also playing a man down as junior Angela Verdoes (Katwijk Aan Zee, Holland/Ter Leede) was off with a nosebleed.

"In the first half we sat back too much and gave them too many chances," said Bailey. "We made too many mistakes defensively and weren't organized. Our footwear seemed to be a problem, so I made them all switch from molded (shoes) to spikes at the break which seemed to make a difference because the field seemed to get more wet as the night wore on."

Gregg returned in the second half and quickly netted her 73rd goal of the season and maintaining her goal-scoring streak as she has now scored in all 22 games - an NCAA Division II record.

Gregg took a through ball from sophomore Anna Rask just past midfield and broke in one-on-one with Franklin Pierce goalkeeper Kim Higgins (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding). Gregg deked Higgins and went around her to the left and scored into an open net at 49:41.

"The fourth goal seemed suspicious," commented Bailey. "It seemed offside to me."

Franklin Pierce got on the board at 56:30 as junior Patricia Keeldar (Amsterdam, Holland/Ter Leede) received the ball in the middle of the box, turned on one defender, and as she set to take a shot another CBU defender deflected the ball back to Keeldar as she blasted it into the lower right-hand corner.

"This was a tough way to end the season," said Keeldar. "We were fairly confident and trustful that we could win this game, but our organization failed and when you give up three goals in 20-minutes you really make things difficult."

Franklin Pierce out-shot the Buccaneers 14-9 for the match, but CBU had the best of the opportunities and took advantage, while many of Franklin Pierce's chances were off the mark.

Higgins finished with one save for the Ravens, while Christian Brothers junior Jennifer Simon registered four saves to preserve the win.

#2 Christian Brothers 4, #1 Frankin Pierce 1

 Scoring Summary: CBU: Margaret Sauren (unassisted), 14:52; CBU: Sauren (Tracey Mulligan), 37:16; CBU: Sauren (penalty kick), 40:02; CBU: Missy Gregg (Anna Rask), 49:41; FP: Patricia Keeldar (unassisted), 56:30.

Goalkeepers: CBU: Jennifer Simon (90:00), four saves; FP: Kim Higgins (90:00), one save.

Shots: CBU: 9, FP: 14.