Women's Soccer Set for Re-Match with Saint Rose in Semis

ALBANY, NY – For the second time in as many weeks, the Merrimack women’s soccer Warriors will square off with the Golden Knights of Saint Rose in a semifinal match.

This time around, the winner will advance to the NCAA East Regional final rather than the Conference championship.

The two teams will take the Albany Academy field at 1:00pm on Sunday, November 15 in Albany, New York.

Following a win in the Regional quarterfinal by virtue of penalty kicks (4-3) over UMass-Lowell, Merrimack hopes to erase the memory of a 2-0 loss to Saint Rose despite a 16-11 advantage in the shooting department in the Conference semifinal. 

The Warriors again proved on Friday that the final shot tally is hardly indicative of the outcome, as the River Hawks out-shot the Warriors 21-4. Senior goalkeeper Brittany Gustafson (East Hampton, CT) saved a season- and career-high 12 saves on Friday afternoon in regulation and overtime. In penalty kicks, Gustafson scored the eventual winner before the River Hawks struck the crossbar on their sixth kick.

The Golden Knights, with a blemish-free 21-0-0 record, earned a bye and home-field advantage in the NCAA East Regional as the No. 1 seed in the region.
The semifinal berth is the ninth in the last eleven years for Merrimack and head coach Gabe Mejail.

The Warriors were also the last Northeast-10 Conference team to knock off the Golden Knights. Saint Rose made it to last year’s NCAA final four and has not lost to a conference opponent since Merrimack on September 27, 2008, 5-0.

The winner on Sunday will face the winner of Franklin Pierce and Bridgeport, also on Sunday.

NCAA East Region
Game 1: #5 Merrimack def. #4 UMass-Lowell, 0-0 (4-3 PKs)
Game 2: #5 Merrimack @ #1 Saint Rose – 1:00pm

Game 3: #3 Franklin Pierce def. #6 Holy Family, 2-0
Game 4: #3 Franklin Pierce @ #2 Bridgeport

East Regional Final: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4