MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Saint Anselm women's
soccer team hosted the Bentley University Falcons this afternoon in
the final game of the regular season. The Hawks defeated the
Falcons by a score of 2-0, to give them a seventh place finish in
the Northeast-10 Conference and a bid to the quarterfinals on
Sunday, November 1st. The Hawks finish the regular season
9-8-1 (8-7 NE-10) and the Falcons finish 6-9-1 (4-9-1 NE-10).
Both teams' defensive lines were solid during the entire first
half. The Hawks had several key opportunities in the box, but
were unable to get past the Falcons' last defender and the score
remained 0-0 at the half. However, at 59:11, sophomore
Teresa Vercollone (Pembroke, Mass.) won the ball
downfield and sent a crossing pass to sophomore Erin
Griffin (Londonderry, N.H.) in the box, who took a hard
shot that was saved by Falcon goalkeeper Miranda Charles
(Jersey Shore, Pa.). However, Charles was unable to
maintain control of the ball, and as it slipped out of her hand,
Griffin was ready for the rebound shot, giving the Hawks a 1-0
lead.
At 73:25, senior Heidi Reece (Salem, N.Y.) sent
a crossing pass to junior Jennifer Pearl (Stoughton,
Mass.) in the box, who laced a shot past the diving
Charles, securing the Hawks a 2-0 victory to close out the regular
season. Pearl leads the Hawks in scoring this season, netting
her seventh goal this afternoon, and recording 17 points on the
season. Reece played in her 77th career game this afternoon,
which sets a new all-time Hawk record for career games played.
Both Charles and Hawk goalkeeper Jacqueline Cooney
(Braintree, Mass.) made nine saves in the game, and the
Falcons also added three team saves. The Hawks outshot the
Falcons 22-15, putting 14 shots on target as compared to the
Falcons' nine.
Today's win gives the Hawks a seventh-place finish in the
Northeast-10 Conference and clinches them their fourth consecutive
playoff berth. The Hawks will travel to Rindge, N.H. on
Sunday, November 1st to take on the second-place Franklin Pierce
University Ravens (14-3-1, 12-2-1 NE-10) in the Northeast-10
Quarterfinals. The Ravens are currently ranked second in the
region and 22nd in the nation. The Hawks dropped a
heartbreaker to the Ravens 1-0 earlier this season on October 20th,
2009, in the last minute of the game.
This will be the fourth consecutive postseason that the Hawks
will face the Ravens. They fell to the Ravens in the
quarterfinals 5-0 in 2008, and 3-0 in 2007. In 2006, they
faced the Ravens in the second round of the playoffs, after
defeating UMass.-Lowell, and fell, 2-1. The Hawks played
their best game against the Ravens in a long time two weeks ago, so
the team is confident that they can put up a strong fight against
the New Hampshire rivals. Sunday's quarterfinal game is
scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm.
