Sports News: Fall 2005

Thursday, November 3, 2005

MORAVIAN WOMEN’S SOCCER TO TRAVEL TO MESSIAH COLLEGE IN COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College women’s soccer team has earned its first-ever berth in the Commonwealth Conference championship match and will travel to top seeded Messiah College on Saturday, November 5th for the title contest of the 2005 Commonwealth Conference Tournament beginning at 5:00 p.m.

Moravian advances to the championship match with a 1-0 victory over third seeded Elizabethtown College in the semifinals while the Falcons shut out fourth seeded Lebanon Valley College, 3-0. The winner of the championship contest will receive an automatic berth in the to 2005 NCAA Division III Tournament that begins on November 9th.

The Greyhounds, who were ranked eighth in this week's NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings released by the NSCAA and NCAA Division III Regional Rankings, are 15-4-1 on the season. 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 Commonwealth Conference 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 Tuesday’s semifinal victory over Elizabethtown. 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.

Corrigan, this week’s Commonwealth Conference Player of the Week, has posted a 0.57 goals-against average, 56 saves, and a 14-4-1 record and a school record ten solo shutouts in 1,744 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.

Messiah enters the championship match as the top ranked team in the country in the latest adidas/NSCAA Division III Top 25 Poll and with an overall mark of 17-0. The Falcons, who reached the NCAA Division III Final Four last fall, have won the last five conference championships and were 7-0 in Commonwealth Conference action during the regular season.

Sophomore forward Stef Rowe leads Messiah in scoring with 26 points on 11 goals, including three game-winning goals, and four assists. Sophomore forward Annie Futato has contributed ten goals with six game-winners and four assists while freshman forward Rachel Horning has added 23 points on nine goals and five assists with two game winning goals. Senior midfielder Hannah Levesque has five goals and seven assists for 17 points this season, and Levesque, Rowe, Futato and senior back Sarah Hibshman, who has found the back of the net once for two points, were all named to the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team.

Senior midfielder/forward Kelly Thomas has contributed six goals and three assists for 15 points including three game-winning goals while senior forward Jessica Steadman and sophomore midfielder/back Avie Fitzgerald each has 12 points this season with Steadman scoring four goals and four assists and Fitzgerald getting two game-winning goals and a team high eight assists. Junior midfielder Savannah Stolzanberg had ten points this season on four goals including one game-winner and two assists while sophomore forward Corrie Jones has netted three goals and two assists for eight points.

Senior midfielder/back Billie Jo Atkins and junior forward Cali Pitchel each have five points this fall with Atkins adding two goals and an assists while Pitchel has five assists. Junior back Sara Stevens has a goal and two assists for four points while freshman midfielder Jen Michener, sophomore back Brenna Blalock, sophomore midfielder Ashley Fisher and freshman back Kacie Klynstra each have contributed one assist.

Fitzgerald, Stolzenburg, Klynstra and senior defender Megan Strausbaugh were all named to the Commonwealth All-Conference Second Team earlier this week.

Junior goalie Cassie Grosse has posted a 0.33 goals-against average with 21 saves and six shutouts in 1,350 minutes of action for the Falcons. Sophomore keeper Lana Trotter has one save in 93 minutes of action while freshman goalie Brindley Beckwith has not made a save in 87 minutes of action this season.