FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

South Easton, Mass. - The top four seeds in the Northeast-10 Women's Soccer Championship all advanced to the semifinal round after quarterfinal victories Sunday afternoon.  The Northeast-10 semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5 at the higher seed.  Semfinal round matches include #4 Merrimack traveling to #1 Saint Rose, while #2 Franklin Pierce will host #3 UMass Lowell. 

#1 Saint Rose 1, #8 New Haven 0

Sophomore Brittany Godin (Rochester, N.Y.) scored the games only goal for top seeded Saint Rose in the 20th minute as the Golden Knights defeated New Haven, 1-0.  Godin scored off a pass from fellow classmate Gianna D'Errico (Shrewsbury, Mass.) from eight yards out. 

Saint Rose held New Haven to only one corner kick and outshot the Chargers 12-11.  The Golden Knights goalkeeper Susan Cowan (West Boylston, Mass.) made eight saves in net as did her counterpart sophomore Kim Taylor (Patchogue, N.Y.). 

With the win the Golden Knights extend their unbeaten streak to 19-0-0, while New Haven finishes the year 10-7-3.

#2 Franklin Pierce 3, #7 Saint Anselm 0

Senior Gabriela Demoner (Vitoria, Brazil) scored her 28th goal of the season in the 44th minute which turned out to be the game-winning goal as second seeded Franklin Pierce University went on to defeat No. 7 Saint Anselm College, 3-0.

The Ravens increased its lead to two in the 80th minute when junior Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden) scored after chasing down a long pass and knocked in the goal in the lower left corner.  Minutes later, Johansson hit the lower, left corner again for her 16th goal of the season.

Saint Anselm goalkeeper Jacqueline Cooney (Braintree, Mass.) made a game-high 13 saves in net for the Hawks.

Franklin Pierce improves to 15-3-1, while Saint Anselm drops to 9-9-1.

#3 UMass Lowell 1, #6 Stonehill 0

Third seeded UMass Lowell and sixth seeded Stonehill battled through a scoreless first half despite the River Hawks outshooting the Skyhawks 12-1 in the half.  The score remained scoreless until the 62th minute when UMass Lowell's Kelly Soper (Auburn, Mass.) scored her fourth goal of the season connecting near the inside far post, which later proved to be the game-winner. 

UMass Lowell's defense held Stonehill to only nine shots throughout the game as senior goalkeeper Jamie Gillis (North Billerica, Mass.) pushed away three shots.  Stonehill's Sarah Hickey (Lee, Mass.) made six saves in net for the Skyhawks.  

With the win, UMass Lowell improves to 12-4-3, while Stonehill is now 10-8-1.

#4 Merrimack 1, #5 Adelphi 1
(Merrimack Advances 5-4, PKs)

The fourth seed Merrimack College converted all five of its penalty kicks to advance to the semifinals over fifth seeded Adelphi University.

Adelphi jumped out to a first half lead in the 28th minute when Brianne McDonnell (Commack, N.Y.) scored her sixth goal of the game from a pass from senior Kayte Kinsley (Putnam Valley, N.Y.).  The score would remain in favor of the Panthers until late in the second half when Merrimack's Jackie Vickers (Norwell, Mass.) scored her third goal of the year in the 75th minute to tie the score at 1-1.

The game remained tied throughtout the rest of regulation and two-overtime periods as both teams had nearly 20 shots during the course of the afternoon.  Merrimack's goalkeeper Brittany Gustafson (East Hampton, Conn.) pushed away 10 shots for the Warriors, while Adelphi's Dorothy Connolly (Bethpage, N.Y.) recorded eight saves in net.

With the shootout tied 4-4, Merrimack's Elizabeth Hopley (Cromwell, Conn.) converted her attempt to give the Warriors the 5-4 victory. 

Merrimack is now 13-4-3 on the year, while Adelphi is now 10-5-3.



Sunday, November 1

Quarterfinals - at Higher Seed
Match 1: #1 Saint Rose 1, #8 New Haven 0
Match 2: #2 Franklin Pierce 3, #7 Saint Anselm 0
Match 3: #3 UMass Lowell 1, #6 Stonehill 0
Match 4: #4 Merrimack 1, #5 Adelphi 1 (Merrimack advances 5-4 PK's)

Thursday, November 5

Semifinals - at Higher Seed
Match 5: #4 Merrimack at #1 Saint Rose
Match 6: #3 UMass Lowell at #2 Franklin Pierce

Sunday, November 8

Championship
Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner