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South Easton, Mass. – The Northeast-10 Women’s Soccer Championship continues today with the semifinal round that features the College of Saint Rose, the top seed and regular season champion, hosting fourth seeded Merrimack College at 1 p.m., while #3 UMass Lowell heads north to face #2 Franklin Pierce University for a 4 p.m. match.

Saint Rose is advancing to its third straight Northeast-10 semifinal and ninth overall after defeating #8 University of New Haven, 1-0, in the quarterfinals.  Sophomore Brittany Godin (Rochester, N.Y.) scored the games only goal in the 20th minute as the Saint Rose defense secured the shutout victory. Merrimack is advancing to its 20th semifinal which is the most appearances by any team in the Northeast-10.  The Warriors converted all five of its penalty kicks to advance to the semifinals after finishing in a 1-1 tie with #5 Adelphi University.  Elizabeth Hopley (Cromwell, Conn.) converted her attempt to give Merrimack the 5-4 victory in the penalty kick shootout.

Saint Rose (19-0-0, 15-0-0 NE-10) is led by a number of goal scorers that include junior Amanda Deck (Cicero, N.Y.) who leads the team with six goals and six assists.  Sophomores Gianna D'Errico (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Nicola D'Errico (Shrewsbury, Mass.) each have scored five goals this season. Fellow classmate Susan Cowan (West Boylston, Mass.) has an impressive goals against average of 0.16 to go along with a save percentage of .951 in net for the Golden Knights.

Merrimack (13-4-3, 10-4-1 NE-10) senior forward Gabrielle Gramprey (Brockton, Mass.) leads the team in goals with 13 and is tied for the team lead in assists with seven.  Ashley Alnwick (Groton, Mass.) and Kara Hennigan (Pawtucket, R.I.) each have score six goals and dished out three assists so far this season. Goalkeeper Brittany Gustafson (East Hampton, Conn.) is holding opponents to under one goal per game with a 0.69 goals against average.  She also has made 85 saves to go along with a .885 save percentage.

Saint Rose defeated Merrimack earlier in the year, 4-0, in North Andover, Mass.

The late semifinal game will feature third seeded UMass Lowell taking on #2 Franklin Pierce. The River Hawks needed just one goal to advance to their second semifinal in school history versus #6 Stonehill College.  Kelly Soper scored her fourth goal of the season in the 62nd minute to give UMass Lowell the lead and eventual win. 

Franklin Pierce received goals from its top two goal scorers to advance to the team's tenth semifinal since joining the Northeast-10 in 2000.  Gabriela Demoner (Vitoria, Brazil) scored her 28th goal of the season minutes before the half to give the Ravens the games first lead.  In the second half junior Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden) scored two goals as the Ravens went on to defeat #7 Saint Anselm College.

UMass Lowell (12-4-3, 10-3-2 NE-10) is led by the scoring combo of Taylor Hartmann (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and Brianne Bozzella (Wilmington, Mass.) who have combined to score 13 goals and dish out six assists.  Hartmann currently has seven goals, while Bozzella has found the back of the net six times to go along with four assists. Senior goalkeeper Jamie Gillis (North Billerica, Mass.) has been lights out for the River Hawks as she currently holds a goals against average of 0.35 and a save percentage of .905.  She also has recorded 13 shutouts this season.

Franklin Pierce (15-3-1, 12-2-1 NE-10) is powered by the scoring combination of Demoner and Johansson.  They currently sit number one and number two respectively in the conference in goals scored as Demoner leads the conference with 28, followed by Johansson's 16.  Goalkeeper Jocelyn Leon (Lenox, Mass.) has appeared in 12 games this year and is sporting a goals against average of 0.55 and a save percentage of .875.  She has made 42 saves and has recorded seven shutouts this season.

UMass Lowell defeated Franklin Pierce, 3-1, back in September at UMass Lowell.

The winners of each semifinal match will face off in the Northeast-10 Championship Final on Sunday, Nov. 8 at the higher remaining seed for a 1 p.m. match. Live action can be seen on Northeast10.tv for all fans and free of charge. For more information visit the Northeast-10 website at www.northeast10.org.

With 16 member institutions the Northeast-10 shares the distinction of being the largest Division II conference in the country along with the PSAC and WVIAC. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.

- NE-10 -

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 - 1 p.m.
Match 6: #3 UMass Lowell at #2 Franklin Pierce - 4 p.m.

Sunday, November 8
Championship
Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner