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ESU - Slippery Rock PSAC Quarterfinal Recap
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EAST STROUDSBURG – After taking down Slippery Rock 5-0 in the quarterfinal round, East Stroudsburg University looks to take the next step towards a third-straight PSAC women's soccer title, traveling to top-seeded West Chester for a semifinal contest set to begin at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Five different players scored for the Warriors (14-4-1) in Tuesday's victory, and ESU outshot the Rock 33-6 to improve its all-time record in PSAC Tournament contests to 12-6-3 (6-0-1 over the past three seasons). ESU's five goals tied a school postseason record and matched the record for most goals scored in a PSAC Tournament game.
The Golden Rams (18-0), ranked No. 3 in the most-recent NSCAA Division II Women's Soccer poll, are the only team remaining in Division II that has won every game played in 2016. They topped IUP 1-0 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday to keep their perfect record intact, with Scarlett Walsh supplying the lone goal in the 54th minute.
Kutztown (16-3), the No. 2 seed in the PSAC Tournament, will take on No. 6 Gannon (10-5-3) in the other semifinal at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The semifinal winners will meet in the championship game at 1 p.m. on Sunday. All contests this weekend will take place at West Chester.
ESU and West Chester have each won four PSAC championships, tied for the most in conference history. The Warriors claimed titles in 1994, 1997, 2014 and 2015, while the most-recent title for the Golden Rams came in 2010. Lock Haven (1999-01) is the only school to win three-straight PSAC women's soccer championships.
West Chester edged out a 1-0 victory when the two teams met in the regular season on Oct. 11, with Jenny Ball scoring the game-winner with 45 seconds left in regulation. The Golden Rams held a 17-8 advantage in shots.
This is the sixth-career playoff meeting between the schools, with the teams deadlocked with a 2-2-1 record in the earlier five contests. They played to a 0-0 draw in the PSAC quarterfinals last year before ESU advanced 4-3 on penalty kicks, and the Warriors later bested West Chester 2-1 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional.
Sophomore forward
Alex Pickett scored both goals in that victory, and ESU would go on to claim its first-ever regional title and advance to the Elite 8 nationally.
The Golden Rams have outscored opponents 53-5 this season, and senior goalkeeper Alex Srolis ranks fifth in Division II in goals-against average (0.30) and 13th in save percentage (.881). Walsh (8 G, 2 A) leads the team with 18 points, and Kara Parvel (7 G, 2 A) is close behind with 16 points. West Chester has five players overall with 10+ points this season.
ESU is led by a senior class, including six starters, that has posted a 56-19-6 record in their four years on campus. Tuesday's win tied the class with the 1994-97 group (with All-America forward Terri Meierhofer the only four-year letterwinner) for the Warriors' most wins in a four-year span.
Included in that record is a 48-12-4 mark since the start of the 2014 season - going 40-11-2 (.774) in the regular season, and a remarkable 9-1-2 (.833) in 12 postseason games.
(Thursday: All-PSAC team -
Harris Defensive AOY; Pickett, Neal, Ortiz, Gombos, Harris 1st team; Neira 2nd team)
ESU features two All-America selections, one of whom may not be in the lineup due to injury.
Midfielder
Shea Neal was the initial first team All-America selection in program history during the 2014 season, when the Warriors went 20-1-1, and is a three-time All-Region first team pick and two-time PSAC Tournament MVP - scoring the game-winning goal in each of the last two PSAC championship games.
Neal has two goals and five assists in 15 starts this fall while missing four games. She is a proven offensive threat with 24 career goals (6th in school history), 16 assists (t-7th) and 64 points (6th) in 77 starts in the midfield. She has three goals and four assists over the last three postseasons.
Back
Laurel Neira, named to the D2CCA All-America second team as a sophomore, is a two-time All-Region and All-PSAC pick. She has made 74 career starts, but suffered an injury in ESU's 1-0 loss at West Chester on October 11.
Neira has been a constant presence on ESU's back line since her freshman year and also had 11 career goals, mostly off corner kicks and set pieces. She had three goals in ESU's first seven games this season.
Junior goalkeeper
Jules Harris has been a critical part of the last two PSAC championship teams, earning a pair of All-Region selections. She has a 43-11-3 record in 57 career starts, with a goals against average of 0.72 and 27 shutouts. Tuesday's clean sheet tied her with Stacy Linzenbold (1995-98) for the most career shutouts in program history, and she broke her own single-season school mark with her 10th shutout of 2016.
This fall, Harris has a 0.53 goals against average, allowing just 10 goals in almost 1700 minutes, and has made 75 saves. She helped the Warriors post 10 shutouts, including eight straight vs. PSAC competition from September 7 through October 8 - a span of 780 minutes.
Pickett leads the front line, contributing 13 goals and four assists. She has played in 15 games (14 starts), missing four games due to injury, with ESU going 13-0-1 when she has been in the starting lineup.
Dating to her goal in last year's PSAC championship game, Pickett has 16 goals and five assists in her last 20 games for the Warriors.
After Pickett, the Warriors have a varied offense with nine players scoring multiple goals.
Senior forward
Brielyn Hackett has started all 18 games and has two goals and five assists. She has 15 career goals and nine assists, making 46 career starts, and was the Warriors' top scorer (8 goals) while entering primarily as a backup on the 2014 PSAC championship team.
Senior back
Hannah Gombos (3 goals, 9 assists) has been an offensive key, particularly taking corner kicks and set pieces. A four-year starter (73 career starts), she has nine career goals and 17 assists - opening her career as a forward before moving to back midway through her sophomore year.
At left back, senior
Liia Carpenter is a first-year starter and another former forward. She scored ESU's only goal in a 2-1 loss at then-No. 5 Adelphi.
Senior
Andrea Polanco has partnered with Neira at center back in the last two seasons, appearing in the lineup in 41 of ESU's 42 games, and has made 43 career starts overall.
Sophomore
Carly Abbott has played in 12 games and made three starts on the back line and scored ESU's first goal in a 5-0 win at UPJ.
In the midfield, junior
Sammi Ortiz has joined Neal to give the Warriors two of the top players in the PSAC. Ortiz has started all 64 games in her career (9 goals, 5 assists), including four goals and an assist this season. She was named to the All-PSAC and NSCAA All-Region second teams last fall.
A pair of freshmen have also been vital in the midfield in
Danielle Cary (3 goals, 2 assists), who has started all 19 games, and
Syd Hicks, who has started 18 games and has moved to center back with Neira out of the lineup.
Multiple players have provided attacking depth, including junior forward
Molly Vicari (2 goals, 3 assists), freshman forward
Amy Strauser (4 goals), senior midfielder
Alyssa Simeone (1 goal, 4 starts) and freshmen midfielders
Jules Sicker (1 goal) and
Hannah Saggese. Vicari, Sicker and Saggese have all made three appearances in the starting lineup.