#3 Bryant at #2 Saint Rose; NCAA Tournament, First Round

Bryant Season Stats / Saint Rose Season Stats

BRYANT WOMEN'S SOCCER RETURNS TO NCAA TOURNAMENT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2001

Bulldogs Ranked No. 3 in New England Region

Records:           #3 Bryant 15-7-1 (9-4-1NE-10)    #2 Saint Rose 16-2-1 (12-1-1NE-10)

Date:                Friday, November 3, 2006

Time:                1 p.m.

Location:          Rindge, N.H.

Stadium:           Sodexho Fied

Season Series:  Tied at one

Last Meeting:    Bryant def. Saint Rose 3-1

                        October 27 in Northeast-10 Semifinals at Albany Academy, Albany, N.Y.

Live Updates:   on bryantbulldogs.com throughout the match

Radio:              Broadcast live at http://www.fpc.edu/pages/Athletics/multimedia/streaming.htm

Head Coach:    Bryant - Chris Flint, 7th year (79-52-10, 53-37-8 NE -10)

2006 New England Region

First Round:

Friday November 3rd

#3 BRYANT vs. #2 Saint Rose 1 p.m.

#4 UMass-Lowell vs. #1 Franklin Pierce 4 p.m.

Second Round:

Sunday November 5th

Winners of #4/#1 vs. #3/#2  1 p.m.

All games played at Sodexho Field in Rindge, N.H.      

THE MATCHUP

The Bryant women's soccer team returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001 after finishing second in the Northeast-10 Tournament. The Bulldogs are ranked third in the New England region and are facing second-ranked Saint Rose. Last Friday, Bryant upset Saint Rose, who was the top-seed in the NE-10 Tournament, 3-1 in the Conference Semifinals in Albany, N.Y. Amy Orzechowski (Milford, Conn.) scored twice, including the game-winner to lead the Bulldogs to the upset. The victory snapped the Golden Knights' seven-game unbeaten streak, and gave the Bulldogs their seventh straight win.

BRYANT IN THE NORTHEAST-10 TOURNAMENMT

Quarterfinals: Bryant 2, Merrimack 1: Ranked fourth in the Northeast-10 Tournament, the Bulldogs defeated fifth-ranked Merrimack 2-1 on October 24 at Bulldog Stadium. Diane Pascale (Plymouth, Mass.) scored both Bulldog goals, her eighth and ninth of the season in the victory. Pascale leads the Bulldogs with six game-winning goals. Jessica Neales (Swansea, Mass.) stopped four shots in the victory.

Semifinals: Bryant 3, Saint Rose 1: The Bulldogs snapped Saint Rose's seven-game unbeaten streak upsetting the top seed on October 27 at Albany Academy. Orzechowski scored Bryant's first two goals, while Stephanie Zalewski (Parsippany, N.J.) added an insurance goal following perfect passes from Daisy Martinez (Eliot, ME) and Danielle Malta (Bethel, Conn.). Replacing the injured Neales, freshman Katie Mitchell (Deer Park, N.Y.) made four saves to earn the win.

Finals: Franklin Pierce 3, Bryant 1: Trailing 1-0 late in the first half on October 29, senior captain Casey Grange (Methuen, Mass.) tied the match up, one-timing a Tricia Spada (Dedham, Mass.) pass past Ravens goaltender Jenna Mello. Gabriela Demoner scored the go-ahead goal in 62nd minute taking a Ann Foley pass and firing it past Mitchell to give Frankin Pierce the lead. Shona Franklin added an insurace goal in the 88th minute to give the Ravens their seventh straight Northeast-10 Championship.

QUICK GLANCE AT  SAINT ROSE

The Golden Knights, the top seed in the Northeast-10 Tournament, finished the regular season 16-2-1 (12-1-1 NE-10).  Ashley McGuire leads Saint Rose with ten goals and seven assists (27 points). Deanna Wachtel and Lindsay Bove are second, tied with 21 points. Lauren Steinberg has started all 19 matches, posting a 0.71 goals-against-average and .810 save percentage. Coach Laurie Darling Gutheil is in her 11th season as coach at Saint Rose with 126 wins. Gutheil was named the 2006 NE-10 Women's Soccer Head Coach of the Year.

THE BULLDOGS VS. GOLDEN KNIGHTS

This will be the third meeting this season between Bryant and Saint Rose.  Saint Rose won the first meeting 2-1 in double overtime in Albany, N.Y. as Deanna Wachtel headed in an Ashley McGuire corner kick that beat Jessica Neales in the 103rd minute. Casey Grange tied the game at one in the 72nd minute, but the Bulldogs could not hang on for the tie.

Bryant avenged the loss in the Northeast-10 Semifinals on October 27th upsetting the top seed 3-1 at Albany Academy. Amy Orzechowski led the way with two goals while Stephanie Zalewski added an insurance tally. Katie Mitchell replaced the injured Jessica Neales in goal and made four saves.  

NOTABLES / RECORDS CHECK

*   Casey Grange (Methuen, Mass.) set the Bryant record for goals scored in a season (19) and in a career (40). She set the record against St. Anselm on October 11.

*   With her goal against Franklin Pierce in the NE-10 Championship, Grange eclipsed the 100-point pleateau (101 points), becoming the first player in Bryant history to reach that milestone.

*   Junior Diane Pascale (Plymouth, Mass.) is fourth on Bryant's all-time list for goals with 26 and fifth for points with 61.

* Bryant's 15 wins are a school record.

*  Goaltender Jessica Neales (Swansea, Mass.) is second all-time on the wins list with 20 and second in shutouts with 11.

*   Neales was named the Northeast-10 Goaltender of the Week from August 20-27 as she did not surrender a goal in 135 minutes of play, stopping nine shots.

*   Head Coach Chris Flint won his 100 career match aganst Holy Family on October 8th. Flint has 105 career wins and 79 at Bryant.

BULLDOGS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

This marks Bryant's second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They reached the tournament in 2001 after compiling a 13-7 record, only to lose to Merrimack College 2-1 on November 7th in North Andover, Mass.

FOUR BULLDOGS NAMED TO ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS

Four Bulldogs were selected to the Northeast-10 All-Conference teams after leading Bryant to its most successful season in school history. Casey Grange was a first-team selection, and the co-recipient of the Golden Ball award. The award is given annually to the player who leads the Northeast-10 in goals. Tricia Spada and Danielle Malta were named to the All-Conference second-team, while Diane Pascale was a third-team selection.

BRYANT RANKED NATIONALLY FOR FIRST TIME SINCE SEPT. 5TH

Bryant is ranked No. 23 in the most recent NSCAA/Adidas Division II Poll, released on October 31. The Bulldogs began the season ranked No. 25 nationally but fell from the rankings on September 6. Saint Rose is ranked No. 15.  They had been ranked as high as fifth nationally.

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