ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose women's soccer team scored a goal in each half and kept visiting UMass Lowell off the board for the second time this season en route to a 2-0 victory in a Northeast-10 Conference Tournament semifinal match this afternoon at The Albany Academies East Campus.

The Golden Knights (16-3-1), who are the second-seed in the conference championship, now have a chance to defend their 2007 NE-10 title against 13th-ranked and top-seed Franklin Pierce (15-3-1). The Ravens, who advanced to the championship game in dramatic fashion with a 2-1 victory versus Southern Connecticut State this evening, will host the final at 1:00 pm Sunday in Rindge, NH.

Sophomore midfielder Jordan Bowers scored what held up as the game-winner, while junior midfielder Lizzie Shegda added her second marker of the season just over 16 minutes into the second half for the final cushion. Freshman forward Nicola D'Errico and senior forward Kailey Egbert set up the tallies.

The Golden Knights seemed to control play from the opening kickoff, often finding space on the wings and placing services towards the far post. Saint Rose wound up outshooting the River Hawks (8-5-5) by a 7-1 margin in the first stanza, which took its toll towards the latter stages of the frame.

“We looked at film all week on this team [UMass Lowell],” said Saint Rose head coach Laurie Darling Gutheil. “We knew we had to put the ball on the back stick somewhere outside the six. We really tried to focus on making good decisions and when we attacked we were able to find open passing lanes.”

The Golden Knights, ranked #21 in Tuesday's NSCAA/Adidas NCAA Division II poll, finally broke through in the 29th minute on a play that was initiated by freshmen forwards Gianna D'Errico and Nicola D'Errico. Gianna created some space on the left side and played a cross towards the middle of the penalty area. Nicola managed to get her head on the ball and flick it to Bowers, where it was set up perfectly for a low line drive past UMass Lowell junior keeper Jamie Gillis.

“It's been a while since I had a game-winner,” said Bowers. “It felt good. It wasn't an easy win by any means, but we found a way to get it done.”

Saint Rose added the insurance marker in the 61st on a picturesque goal by Shegda. Egbert settled a throw in, turned her defender and streaked down the left sideline. Just before Egbert reached the corner of the penalty box, she played a lateral pass to Shegda who buried the try in the bottom left corner.

“We work on that all the time,” said Darling Gutheil. “It was a good lift for us, but they [UMass Lowell] are a great team. We look at every game the same way no matter who we are playing. We had a rough loss back in September, but we have rebounded nicely since then and it just goes to show you how much pride these girls have in defending the title.”

UMass Lowell did not make things easy during the waning moments. Sophomore fullback Ella Merullo nearly made it a one goal affair with 48 seconds remaining, but Saint Rose junior keeper Shannon Murphy tipped the shot over the crossbar and the Golden Knights were able to clear the ensuring corner kick to register their league-leading 12th clean sheet of the season.

Murphy was solid between the posts after stopping all four shots that she faced. Meanwhile, Gillis was called upon to stop two shots for the River Hawks.

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