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ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose continues its quest to a second consecutive national championship on Friday with a 1:30 pm East Regional Final encounter with Dowling College (14-3-3) out the East Coast Conference on the campus of West Chester University (PA). The Golden Knights (18-2-2), ranked #20 in the most recent
NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division II Top-25 Poll, will be making their seventh straight appearance in a regional final and will be after their fifth straight such title.
Friday's victor will have the privilege of meeting the host Rams (14-4-1) or Slippery Rock University (14-5-3) in Sunday's National Quarterfinal match.
The Golden Knights got to this point by virtue of last Sunday's 2-1 victory at 14th ranked and
Northeast-10 Conference rival American International in Springfield, MA where senior back
Molly Harpster headed home the game winner off a corner in the 88th minute. Saint Rose started its 2012 NCAA Tournament run with Friday's first-round 3-0 triumph versus Wilmington (DE) in Springfield.
Like anyone still in the mix at this juncture, Saint Rose has played well down the stretch. The Golden Knights have won 10 of their last 11 matches and have outscored their opponents 25-4 during that span. From a broader perspective, Saint Rose has allowed only one first half goal, has outshot its opponents by a 437-132 margin and has manufactured more than three times as many corner kicks (161) than it has yielded (46) throughout the season.
Junior forward
Carmelina Puopolo, the 2011 NSCAA National Player of the Year, leads the country with 54 points and 16 assists, while her 19 goals are second only to Wingate (NC) sophomore midfielder Jade Montgomery's 21 strikes. Junior midfielder
Sydney Bond trails only Puopolo among the NE-10's leading point producers via 28 points on 12 goals and four assists.
Freshman midfielder
Amanda Vasquez and freshman forward
Kristin Carr, along with sophomore forward
Brittany Barry, are also double-figure point producers. Vasquez is tied for the NE-10 lead with five game-winners among her eight strikes to go with four assists for 20 points. Carr has 17 points via six goals and five assists, while Barry has 12 points on five goals and a pair of helpers.
Between the posts, junior keeper
Jessica Gerski is fourth in the country with a 0.42 goals-against-average on the strength of six shutouts. She also owns a 0.875 save percentage, the nation's 10th best mark, thanks in part to a defensive unit that includes Harpster, sophomore
Jourdan Thompson, and junior La'Quilla Upton.
Overall, this marks the 10th NCAA Tournament appearance within an 11-year stretch for the Golden Knights. Saint Rose is 18-8-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament contests. The Golden Knights have furthermore advanced to seven regional championship games and have made four consecutive national semifinal appearances.
As for Dowling, the Golden Lions advanced on penalty kicks after playing to a 0-0 draw with Southern New Hampshire in Friday's opening round. They then upset top-seed LIU Post 2-0 on Sunday.
Senior midfielder Alexis Parrotta and sophomore forward Lindsey Thompson are their top-two scoring threats. The former has seven goals and a team-leading 10 assists for 24 points, while Thompson has found the back of the net a team-high nine occasions and has set up one goal for 19 points.
Sophomore keeper Melissa Guglielmo has directed a defense that has surrendered a mere 12 goals all year. Guglielmo owns a 0.69 GAA and a 0.810 save percentage.
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