NCAA
DIVISION II WOMEN'S SEMIFINAL
#2 Christian
Brothers Rockets Past #1 Franklin Pierce, 4-1
Sauren's first half hat trick sinks
Ravens
|
Patricia Keeldar scored
the lone Ravens goal in the NCAA Division II Semifinals
|
LA JOLLA, Calif.
(November 29, 2001) - Junior forward Margaret Sauren
netted three first half goals in a 25-minute span to spark
No. 2 Christian Brothers University to a 4-1 victory over
No. 1 Franklin Pierce University
in the NCAA Division II women's
soccer semifinals hosted by University of California San
Diego tonight.
Christian Brothers
(22-0) advances to Sunday's NCAA Division II Championship
match where they will meet the winner of tonight's late
match between No. 4 Northern Kentucky University and No.
5 UC-San Diego.
Franklin Pierce finished
its season with a 22-1 record, which includes a new school
record for victories in a season that matches the NCAA Division
II mark. FPC, which has advanced to a record ten-straight
final fours, has now finished
in third place in three of the last four seasons.
Suaren opened the
scoring in the 15th minute when she converted a free-kick
from 25-yards out that deflected off the left post and found
the back of the net.
The CBU goal marked
the first time Franklin Pierce had trailed in a match this
season and came moments after CBU's standout forward Missy
Gregg was sidelined with a first degree ankle sprain. Gregg
entered the game holding NCAA Division II records with 72
goals and 154 points.
"I actually thought
it was broken," said Gregg after the match. "I felt shooting
pains up my shins. I guess my muscles spasmed and made it
feel worse than it was."
Gregg would eventually
return after halftime, but the game was out of FPC's reach
as Sauren added two more first half goals to take a 3-0
lead by halftime.
Senior Tracey Mulligan
set up the Buccaneers second goal as she sent in a cross
that found Sauren, who settled the ball before finding the
lower left-hand corner of the net at 37:16.
"I actually think
Gregg's injury may have caught us more off-guard," said FP
Head Coach Jeff Bailey. "We seemed to lose our focus
a little bit."
Freshman Megan Welcome battles with CBU's Bridgette
Centella for the ball |
Suaren rounded out
the first half scoring when she converted a penalty kick
in the 41st minute. She was credited with the shot after FP
freshman midfielder Martta Makila (Vantaa, Finland/Makelanrinne)
committed a foul near the top of the box. The Ravens were
also playing a man down as junior Angela Verdoes (Katwijk
Aan Zee, Holland/Ter Leede) was off with a nosebleed.
"In the first half
we sat back too much and gave them too many chances," said
Bailey. "We made too many mistakes defensively and weren't
organized. Our footwear seemed to be a problem, so I made
them all switch from molded (shoes) to spikes at the break
which seemed to make a difference because the field seemed
to get more wet as the night wore on."
Gregg returned in the second
half and quickly netted her 73rd goal of the season and
maintaining her goal-scoring streak as she has now scored
in all 22 games - an NCAA Division II record.
Gregg took a through
ball from sophomore Anna Rask just past midfield and broke
in one-on-one with FP
goalkeeper Kim Higgins (Rochester,
N.H./Spaulding). Gregg deked Higgins and went around
her to the left and scored into an
open net at 49:41.
"The fourth goal seemed
suspicious," commented Bailey. "It seemed offside to me."
FP
got on the board
at 56:30 as junior Patricia Keeldar (Amsterdam, Holland/Ter
Leede) received the ball in the middle of the box,
turned on one defender, and as she set to take a shot another
CBU defender deflected the ball back to Keeldar as she blasted
it into the lower right-hand corner.
"This was a tough
way to end the season," said Keeldar. "We were fairly confident
and trustful that we could win this game, but our organization
failed and when you give up three goals in 20-minutes you
really make things difficult."
Franklin Pierce out-shot
the Buccaneers 14-9 for the match, but CBU had the best
of the opportunities and took advantage, while many of FPC's
chances were off the mark.
Higgins finished with
one save for the Ravens, while Christian Brothers junior
Jennifer Simon registered four saves to preserve the win.
#2 Christian
Brothers 4, #1 Frankin Pierce 1
| Christian Brothers
(22-0) |
3
|
1
|
-
|
4
|
| Franklin Pierce (22-1) |
0
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
Scoring Summary:
CBU: Margaret Sauren (unassisted), 14:52; CBU: Sauren (Tracey
Mulligan), 37:16; CBU: Sauren (penalty kick), 40:02; CBU:
Missy Gregg (Anna Rask), 49:41; FPC: Patricia Keeldar (unassisted),
56:30.
Goalkeepers:
CBU: Jennifer Simon (90:00), four saves; FPC: Kim Higgins
(90:00), one save.
Shots: CBU:
9, FPC: 14.
