Women's Soccer Earns Third Straight NCAA Tourney Bid
NORTH ANDOVER, MA - Following the program's 25th straight Conference postseason, the Merrimack women's soccer team has been selected to the 2009 NCAA Tournament where they will meet the River Hawks of UMass-Lowell.
Merrimack, the five seed in the East Region for the second straight year, will face the four seed, UMass-Lowell, who the Warriors defeated in the last regular season contest, 1-0 on a goal from Khara Roman (Orange, CT).
As the top seed, the College of Saint Rose Golden Knights will host the winner of the Merrimack-UMass-Lowell match-up on Sunday. The River Hawks and Warriors will also play their first round match at Saint Rose.
The NCAA tournament berth is not only the third consecutive for Merrimack but the 10th in program history and eighth in the last nine years.
Should the Warriors advance to the East Regional semifinal, they would take on the top-seeded Golden Knights of Saint Rose for second time in as many weeks. In the Northeast-10 Conference semifinals, the Warriors fell 2-0 despite out-shooting the Golden Knights, 16-11.
With a 13-4-2 regular season record and fourth place finish in the Northeast-10 Conference, the Warriors were led by six All-Conference players, including senior captain and First Team forward Gabrielle Gramprey (Brockton, MA), who scored 33 points on 13 goals and seven assists.
To get to the Conference semifinals, Merrimack knocked off Adelphi University in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in regulation. Senior captain Jackie Vickers (Norwell, MA) scored the Warriors only goal before the Warriors went perfect in the tie-breaker (5 of 5). Senior goalkeeper Brittany Gustafson (East Hampton, CT) stopped the fifth and final Panther attempt to make way for Elizabeth Hopley's (Cromwell, CT) clincher.
The River Hawks, ending the season with a 12-4-3 record, were eliminated from the Conference tournament by the Ravens of Franklin Pierce University, 2-1. Taylor Hartman leads the River Hawks offense with seven goals and two assists on the year, while five others have scored multiple goals on the year.
Friday's contest will mark the second time in three years that UMass-Lowell and Merrimack have squared off at Saint Rose in the East Regional tournament. In 2007, the Warriors defeated the River Hawks 1-0 before dropping a second round match to Saint Rose, 3-1.
East Regional first round game times will be determined later in the week.
East Region
Game 1: #5 Merrimack vs. #4UMass-Lowell (@
Saint Rose)
Game 2: Winner Game 1 @ #1 Saint Rose
Game 3: #6 Holy Family vs. #3 Franklin Pierce (@ Bridgeport)
Game 4: Winner Game 3 @ #2 Bridgeport
East Regional Final: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4
First Round
1. Saint Rose
19-0-0
2. Bridgeport
14-1-3
3. Franklin Pierce
15-3-1
4.
UMass.-Lowell
12-4-3
5. Merrimack
13-4-3
6. Holy
Family
13-8-1
