Box Score

Albany, N.Y. – The women's soccer team ended their NCAA run earlier this afternoon to the College of Saint Rose by a score of 2-0 in the East Region Semifinals. Despite pressing hard in the second, two early goals from the first put the Brown and Gold in a hole in which they were unable to climb out of. The Panthers close out their 2013 season with a 14-3-4 overall record while St. Rose advances to the East Region finals.
 
The lopsided first favored the hosts with an 8-2 shot differential and a 4-0 corner kick advantage. The Panthers dodged a bullet early on in the 14^th minute when a corner attempt sent in by Meeghan Arno was headed into the net by La'QUilla Upton. However, the referee signaled for offsides which wiped the goal off the board to keep the game scoreless.
 
However, in the 21^st minute, St. Rose capitalized on an opportunity and went up 1-0 after Michaela Phillips headed in a corner kick to beat Adelphi keeper, Sam Whitney. The assist came from Arno.
 
Less than four minutes later, the Golden Knights struck once again, this time on a feed from Jennifer Busk to Sydney Bond for the second goal of the game.
 
Adelphi's only recorded shots came off the feet of Victoria Antonino and Taylor Salmon, but both attempts were blocked.
 
Upon returning to the field after the halftime intermission, the Panthers ramped up their offense and outshot the top-seeded hosts 5-2 over the final 45 minutes. Pressuring the ball in the midfield, the Brown and Gold played much of the game in the attacking third and tested their counterpart's defense. One of Salmon's two shots made its way toward the goal but was met with a save from keeper Jessica Gerski.
 
Olivia Czavar, Aimee Goldstein and Giselle Ortiz recorded one shot each but were unable to put it on target. In the 85^th minute, Whitney's athletic save on a Laura Taylor opportunity helped keep it a two-goal game, but it was not enough as the Panthers suffered their third loss of the year, all to St. Rose.
 
The NCAA Tournament bid marked the first appearance since 2007 while the win against Mercy on Friday was the first since 2004. The Panthers were crowned the Northeast-10 Tournament runner up for the second straight season.
 
Coach's Thoughts
"Generally speaking, I would have to say that when you look at the whole body of work, I'm really proud of where we started and where we finished," Stated Head Coach Chris Armas. "On days like today, there's not a lot of room for error. Today was a tough opponent and a good team. But our goal this year was to get to the NCAA Tournament and to a point where every game matters and see if we could make a run. We took the program a notch further than last year and now the bar has been raised. It was a great year and I'm proud of the girls.

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