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Nov. 4, 2008
IUP avenged a pair of regular season losses to Gannon, including a double overtime defeat at home on Saturday, with a 1-0 victory over the Golden Knights in the quarterfinals of the PSAC women's soccer tournament Tuesday in Erie. The Crimson Hawks improved to 13-8 on the season and advanced to the PSAC Final Four, hosted by Mercyhurst this Friday and Saturday in Erie. In the semifinal round, IUP will take on East Stroudsburg at noon and Mercyhurst faces West Chester immediately following. The semifinal winners will play for the PSAC championship Saturday at noon. West Chester is the two-time defending conference champion. IUP has won the PSAC title twice in the 15-year history of the program, most recently in 2004. The PSAC champion gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Heather Robbins scored the only goal for IUP in its win over Gannon, finding the back of the net on an unassisted tally 14:46 left in the first half. The goal was her 14th of the season, second on the team. The lead held up despite the Golden Knights holding a commanding 30-11 advantage in shots and 10-1 in corner kicks. Freshman goalkeeper Kelly Brennan stopped nine shots in posting the shutout. She was able to withstand constant Gannon pressure, especially in the second half when the Golden Knights fired 18 shots toward the IUP net. Sabrina Chirco made six saves for Gannon. East Stroudsburg (11-5-3) advanced with a 2-1 win at Bloomsburg while West Chester (13-1-5) blanked Kutztown 3-0 in the two PSAC East quarterfinal games. Mercyhurst (12-4-4) moved on with a 4-2 win over Slippery Rock. East Stroudsburg holds a 6-5 lead in the all-time series versus IUP, but the Crimson Hawks won the most recent meeting, a 2-1 double overtime victory last season. |
