MORAVIAN WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM TO HOST THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA IN THE 2008
LANDMARK CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College women’s soccer team is the top seed in the 2008 Landmark Conference Championship Tournament and will host second seeded The Catholic University of America in the championship match on Saturday, November 8th 1:00 p.m. on the HUB Quad

The Greyhounds, who are 13-5-2 overall and posted a 4-1-1 mark in Landmark Conference regular season action to tie for first place, are making their sixth postseason appearance in the 14th year of the program.  The Cardinals come to Bethlehem with an overall record of 10-6-2 and were also 4-1-1 in Landmark Conference action.  Moravian won the regular season meeting 3-1 in Bethlehem on October 25th.

Moravian, which is playing in its third conference championship match in the last four years and the first as the top seed and at home, reached the final with a 2-0 shutout of fourth seeded Juniata College in one of Wednesday’s semifinal contests.  Catholic posted a 1-0 overtime victory over third seed and defending Landmark Conference champion The University of Scranton in the other semifinal contest.

Moravian head coach Eric Lambinus has the Greyhounds in the postseason for the sixth time in his ten seasons at the helm of the program.  Lambinus, who has coached both Moravian’s soccer programs during his tenure, surpassed the 100-win plateau last year with the women and enters the Landmark Conference Championships with an overall record of 110-57-14.  He has also led the program to two NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament berths in 2005 and 2007.

Senior forward Tracy Fitzpatrick (Wantage, NJ/High Point Regional HS) leads Moravian in scoring with 11 goals and eight assists for 30 points.  She has moved into third in school history with 87 points in her career on 33 goals, ranked third in the record books, and 21 assists, which is tied for second.  Freshman forward Arielle Caldas (Cherry Hills, NJ/Cherry Hills West HS) has added ten goals and three assists for 23 points, and she has netted four game-winning goals while sophomore forward Jenelle Mirro (Bath, PA/Notre Dame HS) has six goals and four assists for 16 points with a pair of game-winning goals.

Junior forward Alessandra Valdetara (Butler, NJ/Butler HS) has six goals and four assists for 16 points as well including three game-winning goals this season for the Greyhounds while sophomore midfielder Shannon McEvoy (Lafayette, NJ/High Point Regional HS) has contributed two goals and three assists for seven points this year, and she has one game-winning goal.  Valdetara, Fitzpatrick and Caldas have each missed at least one match this fall due to injury with Fitzpatrick missing four contests.

Sophomore forward Amanda Friedman (Randolph, NJ/Randolph HS) has two goals and one assist for five points while junior midfielder JeriAnne Weiss (Allentown, PA/Salisbury HS) has netted two goals for four points.  Freshman midfielder/defender Diana Feldman (York, PA/Central York HS) has a goal and two assists for four points in her debut season while senior defender Katelyn Killea (Chatham, NJ/Chatham HS) has posted one goal and one assist. 

Freshmen midfielder Kim Gogel (Whippany, NJ/Whippany Park HS) has added five assists this year while freshman defender Elizabeth Brundage (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights HS) has a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds.  Junior midfielder Brittany Deiling (Chews Landing, NJ/Triton Regional HS), junior defender Terri Roberts (Danville, PA/Danville HS) and freshmen defender Kim Mogg (Stanford, CT/West Hill HS) have each found the back of the net once this year for Moravian while senior defender Alexandra Frascella (Chatham, NJ/Chatham HS) has three assists while senior goalie Caitlin Corrigan (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge HS) has an assist. 

Also contributing for the Greyhounds have been junior defender Kathleen Wise (Ardsley, PA/Abington HS), sophomore midfielder Emily Rodriguez (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) and sophomore midfielder Tara Alberse (New Providence, NJ/New Providence HS), the only three Greyhounds regulars to have not registered a point this fall.

In goal for Moravian, Corrigan, this week's Landmark Conference Defensive Player of the Week, has posted a 0.74 goals-against average, with 82 saves, seven shutouts and a 13-5-2 record in 1,693 minutes of action.  Corrigan is the school's all-time leader in goalie victories with 50, and she holds the school mark for career shutouts with 33.  Corrigan became the fourth goalie in school history to reach 300 career saves in the semifinal and is tied with current assistant coach Jill Vaccarro for third with 305 saves. 

Sophomore goalie Sarah Halpin (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown West HS) has six saves in 121 minutes of action while freshman goalie Mikki Ruvolis (Allentown, PA/Saucon Valley HS) has seen 66 minutes.  Moravian has also posted four team saves including two in the semifinal match.

Catholic is coached by J.P. Sousa, who is in his fifth season with an overall record of 61-27-11.  He has the Cardinals in the postseason for the fourth straight year including an NCAA tournament berth in 2005

Leading the Cardinals this season is sophomore forward Kelly Donnely, who has seven goals and four assists for 18 points with two game-winning goals.  Junior midfielder Diana Spadaro has contributed five goals and a team high six assists and has converted two penalty kicks while senior midfielder Elyse Bellardini and freshman midfielder Caitlin Brett each have scored 15 points.  Bellardini has six goals with three game-winners and three assists while Brett is tied for the team lead with seven goals including two game-winning goals to go with one helper.

Senior forward Suzie Peters and freshman midfielder Maggie McCarthy each have ten points this fall for Catholic with Peters contributing three goals and four assists and McCarthy netting four goals to go with two assists.  Junior defender Chelsea King has chipped in three goals and two assists for eight points while freshman forward Caroline Burke has three goals and an assist for seven points.

Sophomore midfielder Jenna Graham has a goal and two assists this fall for four points while junior defender Helene Nicoletti has found the back of the net once for the Cardinals.  Junior defender Caitlin Laverty and freshman defender Erin Saia have each added two assists.

Junior goalie Tere Rossi has posted a 1.29 goals-against average for Catholic to go along with 49 saves and four shutouts in 1,251 minutes of action.  Sophomore keeper Amanda Cowan has a 1.97 goals-against average with ten saves in 365 minutes while freshman keeper Christina Cassidy has played 58 minutes in goal this fall.