The College of Saint Rose women's soccer team will meet Northeast-10 Conference rival Merrimack in an NCAA Tournament second round match Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm at The Albany Academies for what will mark the third meeting of the year between the two clubs. The winner will meet either Franklin Pierce (17-4-1) or Bridgeport (16-1-3) in the East Regional championship game next Friday, November 20. Saint Rose is providing a live audio webcast of the event with Chad Cooper handling the play-by-play duties.

The Golden Knights (21-0), who earned a first-round bye, captured a 2-0 win over Merrimack (13-5-4) in the semifinals of the NE-10 Tournament back on November 5 in Albany although the Warriors struck the crossbar three times during that contest. Saint Rose also took the lone regular-season meeting between the clubs via a 4-0 victory on September 19 in North Andover, MA.

Merrimack and UMass Lowell tied 0-0 in Friday's first round match, but the Warriors advanced 4-3 on penalty kicks. Senior keeper Brittany Gustafson drove home the sixth try for the Warriors and UMass Lowell's ensuing attempt was hit wide, thus allowing Merrimack to move on. Gustafson furthermore pushed aside 12 shots-on-target to keep Merrimack within striking distance of a game in which the Warriors were outshot by a 21-4 margin.

Saint Rose, which is ranked #2 in the latest NSCAA/Adidas Division II Poll, won its third consecutive NE-10 title last Sunday with a 2-1 triumph versus Franklin Pierce. The Golden Knights set a single-season school record for victories (21) and joined the Ravens and Merrimack as the only clubs to win three straight league championships. Furthermore, they remain one of only two (West Florida) unbeaten or untied teams.

Eighteen different players have figured in the scoring column for the Golden Knights, including 14 who have recorded at least one goal. Junior midfielder Amanda Deck has produced a team-leading 20 points with seven goals and six assists. Sophomore forward Gianna D'Errico is right behind her with 15 points via five goals and five assists.

Junior backs Katie Whiting, Kelly Guerin and Coco Ebersole anchor a defense, along with freshman Meagan McKinney, that has shutout 13 of its last 15 opponents and owns a slim 0.24 goals-against-average. Saint Rose has allowed a mere five goals all season, none in the first half.

Merrimack is led by first-team All-Conference forward Gabrielle Gramprey who has 33 points behind 13 goals and seven assists on the year. Gustafson owns a 0.72 goals-against-average and a 0.887 save percentage.

Saint Rose is 8-6-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament contests. The Golden Knights have advanced to four regional championship games, including last year when they took a 4-0 win at Franklin Pierce. That victory helped solidify the program's first-ever national semifinal appearance.

The East Regional champion is scheduled to host the Atlantic Regional champion in a national quarterfinal match on Sunday, November 22, with the winner advancing to the Championship Finals in Tampa, Florida.

NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET