Monday, November 7, 2005

MORAVIAN WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM EARNS FIRST-EVER NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT BERTH

INDIANAPOLIS, IN --- The Moravian College women’s soccer team has earned its first-ever berth in the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament and will travel Dickinson College in Carlisle on Saturday, November 12th and Sunday, November 13th for the first and second rounds of the tournament.

Moravian (15-5-1) is scheduled to play Washington & Lee University (13-2-3) on Saturday while host Dickinson (14-2-3) will play College Misericordia (15-4-0) in the other first round match. Dickinson and College Misericordia will square off at 11:00 a.m. while the Greyhounds and the Generals will play at 1:30 p.m. or 40 minutes after the conclusion of the first match. The winners will meet on Sunday and the winner of the match moves into the sectionals the following weekend.

The 2005 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament was expanded to 60 teams this fall. Thirty-seven conferences were awarded automatic qualification for the 2005 championship. Four teams were selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions, and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification. The final nineteen berths were reserved for Pool C, which are institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not the conference champion and any remaining Pool B teams. Moravian, Washington & Lee, Dickinson and College Misericordia were all Pool C selections. A complete printable bracket can be found at http://www.ncaasports.com/soccer/womens/brackets/printable/straight64_dyn/
2005/s64dyn_DIII.

The Greyhounds, who were ranked eighth in last week's NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings released by the NSCAA and NCAA Division III Regional Rankings, are 15-5-1 on the season after falling to top-ranked Messiah College, 4-0, in the 2005 Commonwealth Conference Championship match Saturday evening. Moravian, under the direction of seventh-year head coach Eric Lambinus, had a 5-1-1 mark during the Commonwealth Conference regular season and is making the program’s fourth appearance in the postseason but the first-ever in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Senior forward Megan Collins (Rehoboth Beach, DE/Caesar Rodney HS), the 2005 Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year, has netted a team high 14 goals and added six assists for 34 points. Collins has seven game-winning goals and she is second all-time at Moravian with 94 points on 39 goals and six assists in four seasons.

Freshman midfielder/forward Tracy Fitzpatrick (Wantage, NJ/High Point Regional HS) has scored 22 points with eight goals and eight assists. Senior defender Erin Gonda (Bethlehem, PA/Salisbury HS) has three goals and an assist for seven points while junior forward Kristina Adams (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery HS) has contributed three goals and five assists for 11 points. Fitzpatrick was named to the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team with Collins while Gonda and freshman goalie Caitlin Corrigan (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge HS) earned spots on the All-Conference Second Team.

Freshman defender Alexandra Franscella (Chatham, NJ/Chatham HS) has netted three goals, two of them game-winners, for six points this season while junior midfielder Alisha Davy (Oaklyn, NJ/Haddon Township HS) has two goals and five assists for nine points including the game-winning goal in last Tuesday’s Commonwealth Conference Tournament semifinal victory over Elizabethtown College. Freshman midfielder Katelyn Killea (Chatham, NJ/Chatham HS) and sophomore midfielder Allison Solomita (Chatham, NJ/Chatham HS) each have three points on a goal and an assist while senior forward/midfielder Lindsay Pohl (West Lawn, PA/Wilson West Lawn HS) and senior midfielder Jessica Cordani (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro HS) each have each found the back of the net once.

Fitzpatrick, Adams and Pohl, who also has an assist, each have scored game-winning goals. Sophomore forward Casey Simpson (Laporte, PA/Sullivan Country HS) and sophomore midfielder Jill Newswanger (Pine Grove, PA/Pine Grove HS) each have one assist.

Other contributors for the Greyhounds include senior defender Kindal Estes (New Providence, NJ/New Providence HS), junior defender Lindsey Lustrino (Spring Lake, NJ/Manasquan HS) and sophomore defender Robyn Klem (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS).

Corrigan, last week’s Commonwealth Conference Player of the Week, has posted a 0.74 goals-against average, 60 saves, and a 14-5-1 record and a school record ten solo shutouts in 1,834 minutes of action. Sophomore keeper Kelly Wight (Port Murray, NJ/West Morris Central HS) has played 96 minutes with eight saves, a 1-0 record and a solo shutout, and Wight combined on a shutout with Corrigan.

Washington & Lee is making its third appearance in the NCAA Division III Championships in the last four years, and the Generals enter the tournament with an overall record of 13-2-3 after falling to Lynchburg College, 1-0, in the semifinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament. Washington & Lee has a 2-2 overall record in NCAA Tournament action with a 1-1 record in both the 2002 and 2003 tournaments.

Junior forward Anne Wiltshire leads Washington & Lee in scoring with 15 goals and six assists for 36 points, and she has scored three game-winning goals. Sophomore defender Shana Oltmans has netted eight goals and five assists for 21 points while freshman forward Anne Van Devender has added eight goals and an assist for 17 points. Senior midfielder Gina Von Sternberg has five goals and four assists for 14 points while freshman midfielder Katie Kern has contributed three goals and five assists for 11 points this fall. Van Devender, Von Sternberg and Kern each have two game-winning goals this season while Oltmans has one game-winning goal.

Freshman forward Erica Giordano has scored four goals and an assist for nine points while freshman midfielder Kate Corr has nine points on three goals and three assists with two game-winning goals. Junior midfielder Blair Haws has found the back of the net twice and added three assists for seven points while freshman forward Conner Esworthy and junior forward Sarah Helms have each scored three goals with Esworthy netting one game-winning goal. Junior midfielder Cara Burton has also scored six points on a goal and four assists.

Sophomore forward Martha Caulkins and junior midfielder Jamie Dorsey have each scored five points on two goals and an assist while sophomore midfielder Mary Clair Turner has a goal and three assists for five points. Freshman defender Marisa Van Brunt has a goal and an assist this fall for the Generals for three points while sophomore defender Haley Bunting has added three assists.

Freshman keeper Kiki Moreo has posted a 0.51 goals-against average with 35 saves, seven solo shutouts and a 12-2-3 record in 1,403 minutes of action for Washington & Lee. Junior goalie Emily Binns has a 1-0 record, a solo shutout and two saves in 288 minutes of action this fall.

The host Red Devils of Dickinson are making the program’s first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament appearance, and Dickinson enters the tournament at 14-2-3 overall after losing to Johns Hopkins University, 2-0, in the Centennial Conference Championship match on Sunday.

Sophomore defender/midfielder Lisa Nichols leads the Red Devils in scored with 24 points on eight goals and eight assists. Junior forward Jessica Griggs has scored a team high ten goals and added three assists for 23 points while freshman forward Sarah Casey has five goals and an assist for 11 points. Nichols has tallied four game-winning goals while Griggs and Casey each have three game-winners.

Junior midfielder Erin Parkyn has contributed nine points on a goal and seven assists while freshman forward Danielle Fried and senior forward Marta Gidey each have scored seven points on three goals and an assist. Freshman midfielder Suzanne Witkowski and senior defender Courtney Scally have both netted a goal and added three assists for while points while junior midfielder Kathleen Flaherty and junior forward Tara Gross both have found the back of the net twice for four points. Fried and Scally have each scored a game-winning goal.

Junior midfielder Bryan Hagmann and sophomore forward Abby Snyder each have a goal and an assists for three points with Hagmann’s goal winning a match. Junior forward Gina Lengeling and freshman midfielder Dana Conroy have both found the back of the goal once for two points while junior defender Nicole Beason and freshman midfielder Emily Pearse each have one assist this season for Dickinson.

Senior goalie Alana Schechtman has posted a 0.49 goals-against average, 61 saves, nine solo shutouts and a 10-1-3 in 1,475 minutes of action for the Red Devils. Sophomore keeper Ashley Damewood has a 0.67 goals-against average with seven saves, a solo shutout and a 1-0 mark in 270 minutes of action this fall.

College Misericordia is making the program’s third NCAA Tournament appearances in the last four years, and the Cougars enter the tournament with an overall record of 15-4 after falling to Arcadia University, 4-2, in the championship match of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday.

Senior forward Miki Bedics leads College Misericordia in scoring with 40 points on 16 goals and eight assists. Senior forward Cole Vennie has added eight goals and a team high ten assists for 26 points while junior forward/midfielder Jessica Lasorsa has scored seven goals and added two assists for 16 points. Vennie and Lasorsa each have a game-winning goal this season.

Sophomore midfielder Allison Martin and senior back Lindsay Klinepeter each have five goals and an assist this fall for 11 points for the Cougars while sophomore back Britany Brouse has added two goals and four assists for eight points. Senior forward Maria Slodysko has found the back of the net three times while sophomore midfielder Kristina Johnson and freshman back/midfielder Jenn Metcalfe each have two goals and an assist for five points. Klinepeter and Slodysko each have a game-winning goal this season.

Sophomore back/midfielder Hannah Martin has scored two goals for four points while freshman forward/midfielder Kaitlyn Leger has four points on a goal and two assists. Junior midfielder/forward Andrea Young and sophomore forward Kelly Miller have each found the back of the net twice for two points while junior midfielder Carmie DelPizzo, sophomore midfielder Brittany Davis, junior midfielder Emi Yorozu, sophomore midfielder/forward Aja Pyers, sophomore back Nicole Williams and freshman forward Alyssa Lewis each have contributed two assists for College Misericordia this fall.

Senior goalie Kathleen Schwarz has posted a 0.88 goals-against average with 63 saves, seven solo shutouts and a 14-2 record in 1,538 minutes of action for the Cougars. Freshman keeper Jemila Najjar-Keith has a 1.45 goals-against average, ten saves and a 1-0 record in 186 minutes in the net.