WEST CHESTER, PA – Sophomore midfielder Amanda Deck broke a 2-2 tie with just over 10 minutes remaining to propel The College of Saint Rose women's soccer team to a 3-2 victory in a national quarterfinal contest in the 2008 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship this afternoon at Farrell Field on the campus of West Chester University. The win allowed the Golden Knights to punch their ticket to the “Final Four” in Tampa, Florida where they will meet second-ranked West Florida (22-0-1) on Thursday, December 4.

Saint Rose (20-3-2) finds itself on unfamiliar turf at this juncture following its first ever regional championship and now a berth in the national semifinal game. The Golden Knights also established a single-season school record for wins (20), while junior Shannon Murphy registered the most victories (18) in a single-season by a goalkeeper.

“We believed we had the talent, desire and TEAM attitude to get here,” said head coach Laurie Darling Gutheil. “We didn't get a few calls in the first half and we started to press a little bit. I told the girls at halftime they needed to stay composed and I thought they responded well.”

Deck had a hand in every goal this afternoon, including the aforementioned game-winner that turned out to be her fourth tally of the year. Deck also fed freshman forward Nicola D'Errico once in each half, which represented the first multi-goal affair of D'Errico's career.

Deck got herself into position on the back stick on a corner kick from freshman midfielder Christina Cuffari that shot across the goal mouth untouched. Deck volleyed the bouncing ball into the back of the net for the game's fourth strike off a corner.

“We really needed to stay composed today,” said Deck. “When we build from the outside in we create a lot of opportunities. We have taken it one game at a time all year. We knew how they [Mercyhurst] played and just tried to relax out there.”

D'Errico got Saint Rose off to a fast start by registering her third marker of the season just 11 minutes into the contest. Cuffari served one of 11 corners in the contest for Saint Rose into the center of the penalty box. Deck settled the service and slipped a pass to D'Errico who found the left corner to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 edge. 

Mercyhurst (15-5-4) evened the match on a set piece of its own in the 28th minute on a header from junior forward Taylor Hilinski. Sophomore forward Jamie Schroter sent a ball towards the penalty hash on a corner kick where junior midfielder Braedyn Ordway headed the ball to Hilinski, who beat Murphy far post to knot the score at 1-1.

Following D'Errico's second strike in the 68th, Schroter again placed a corner near the back of the goalie box that senior forward Sarah Powell headed into the left corner to even things at 2-2.

The Golden Knights wound up with a 19-14 advantage in shots and an 11-3 edge in corners for the game. Meanwhile, Murphy stopped two shots en route to her 18th victory of the season and senior keeper Rebecca Heintzman came up with three saves for the Lakers.

”This is something you hope for when you get here [Saint Rose],” said senior forward Kailey Egbert. “It gets better with each win. We talk about winning a national championship and going to Florida at the beginning of the year. To be headed to Tampa knowing that we actually have a chance to make that a reality is a great feeling.” 

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