MORAVIAN WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM AWARDED NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT BERTH;
Greyhounds to Travel to Skidmore (NY) College for First & Second Rounds

INDIANAPOLIS, IN --- The Moravian College women’s soccer team has been awarded one of three Pool B berths into the 2008 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament field of 61 teams announced Monday by the NCAA.

The Greyhounds, who are 14-5-2 overall, will take on The College of New Jersey (12-6-1) in a first round match on Saturday, November 15th at 1:30 p.m. The match will be played at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York with Skidmore (13-4-4) taking on Western Connecticut State University (15-3-2) in the other first round match at 11:00 a.m. The winners of the first day contests will meet in the second round on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. for the right to advance to the sectionals next weekend. The Final Four will be hosted by Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina on December 5th and 6th. Click here to view the full bracket on www.ncaa.com or click here for a pdf file of the bracket.

Moravian won its first-ever conference title by capturing the 2008 Landmark Conference Championship on Saturday and earned one of the three Pool B berths for independent institutions since the Landmark Conference does not have an automatic berth into the tournament in its second year of existence. New conferences must wait two full years before receiving automatic berths in the NCAA Championships. The Landmark Conference should receive an automatic berth in 2009.

This marks the third time in four seasons that Moravian has reached the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Greyhounds were a Pool C (at-large) team in 2005 after finishing as the runner-up in the Commonwealth Conference. That Moravian team reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished the year at 16-6-1, a school record for victories in a season for the 14-year-old program. Last fall, Moravian made the NCAA Division III Tournament as a Pool B selection, falling in the first round to finish the year at 15-6-1.

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 NCAA Championships with an overall record of 121-57-14. 

Senior forward Tracy Fitzpatrick (Wantage, NJ/High Point Regional HS) leads Moravian in scoring with 11 goals and eight assists for 30 points.  Fitzpatrick, pictured at right, 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 also added 11 goals and three assists for 25 points, and she has netted five game-winning goals including the Landmark Conference Championship winner in double overtime this past Saturday 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), pictured at left, 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 Greyhound regulars to have not registered a point this fall.

In goal for Moravian, Corrigan, pictured at right, has posted a 0.70 goals-against average, with 89 saves, eight shutouts and a 14-5-2 record in 1,800 minutes of action.  Corrigan is the school's all-time leader in goalie victories with 51, and she holds the school mark for career shutouts with 34.  Corrigan became the fourth goalie in school history to reach 300 career saves in the Landmark Conference semifinal and is third with 312 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.

The College of New Jersey currently has an overall record of 12-6-1, and reached the NCAA Tournament as one of the 13 Pool C (at-large) teams.  The Lions reached the semifinals of the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament before falling to Rowan University, 2-1.  TCNJ is coached by Joe Russo, who is in his 19th season, and is making its 18th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.  The Lions have won three national titles, most recently in 2000, and been the runner-up five times, most recently in 2006.

Leading the Lions this season is senior forward Jamie Kunkel, scoring nine goals and having eight assists equaling out to 26 points. Behind Kunkel is senior midfielder Erin Cuncliffe, who has ten goals and two assists for 22 points while senior defender Laura Delaney has eight goals and one assist for 17 points. Sophomore midfielder Casey Caruso has found the back of the net seven times this season for 14 points.

Holding up the defense this season in junior goal keeper Jessica Clarke, who has a recorded 0.79 goals against average, 32 saves, and six shutouts in 1,743 minutes of play. Also helping out in goal this season is sophomore goal keeper Katie Piotrowski, who has recorded two saves in 233 minutes of play. The Lions also have one recorded team save. 

Skidmore College enters the NCAA Tournament with an overall mark of 13-4-4.  The Thoroughbreds are also a Pool C entrant into the tournament after losing in the Liberty League Championship match on penalty kicks to William Smith College.  Skidmore is coached by Sarah Cooper, who is in her fourth season, and the Thoroughbreds are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance, and first since 1996.

Leading the Thoroughbreds this season is senior forward Rachael Sushner, scoring ten goals and four assists for 24 points. Freshmen forwards Lauren Madden and Abby Benton have both found the back of the net this season, Benton five times and Madden four times. Also working on the offense is junior midfielder Emily Quirk, who has three goals and one assist.

Being the anchor of the defense this season is freshman goal keeper Meghan Sleezer posting a 0.40 goals against average, 77 saves and nine shutouts in 1,564 minutes of play. The Thoroughbreds also have two team saves.
            Western Connecticut State University has an overall record of 15-3-2, and the Colonials earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament with their third straight Little East Conference Championship.  Western Connecticut is coached by Joe Mingachos, who is in his 12th season, and the Colonials are making their seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  Western Connecticut reached the Final Four in last year’s tournament.

Leading the Colonials this season is sophomore forward Lauren Matthews, who has 12 goals and three assists for 27 points.  Senior forward Catherine Nathans has also contributed 27 points on ten goals and seven assists.  Stepping up this season is junior midfielder Nicole Sieber, who has six goals and five assists for a total of 17 points while junior midfielder Angela Wozniak has found the back of the net two times and recorded ten assists for 14 points.

Holding up in the defensive end this season is senior goal keeper Shannon Cawley, who has a 0.69 goals against average and 48 saves in 1,828 minutes of play.  The Colonials have ten shutouts this fall.