ALBANY, N.Y. – The top-seed College of Saint Rose scored three unanswered second half goals and engineered a 20-7 shot advantage to upend visiting eighth-seed Pace University 4-1 in this afternoon's Northeast-10 Conference Championship Quarterfinal.
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The Golden Knights (15-2-1), ranked #11 in the latest United Soccer Coaches National Poll, will now host Bentley in a semifinal Thursday. Saint Rose upended the Falcons 4-1 earlier this season in Waltham, Mass.
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The Golden Knights put their depth on full display with six players penciling their names in the scoring column. Senior midfielder
Morgan Burchhardt set up two of the strikes, including the game-winner, while senior forwards
Nina Predanic and
Caitlyn Dabagian, senior midfielder
Eva Frazzoni, and sophomore forward
Kaelyn Britt all found the back of the net.
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The match was fairly evenly played throughout the opening 80 minutes as the visiting Setters (11-7-1) had a slight edge in possession for 51.0 percent of the match.
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The Golden Knights owned a 2-1 lead at a juncture when the outcome appeared far from over. Britt then collected a loose ball, and drove a shot from 20-yards out into the top far-left corner with 83:11 expired to thwart any thought of an upset. Dabagian capped the scoring when she gained position in the middle of the area to head home a free kick off the left flank from sophomore back
Luisa Gaudl.
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Predanic and Burchhardt linked up with 17:58 gone by when the latter delivered a ball up the right channel that Predanic gathered in before delivering her league leading 16th goal of the season.
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Pace made it interesting when junior midfielder
Victoria Barris finished from 20-yards out to level it 1-1 with three minutes remaining before intermission.
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However, Frazzoni provided the game-winner after she settled at the far right post of the goal line to deflect home a Burchhardt corner from the opposite side.
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Between the posts, junior
Marika Laurendeau made a save in each half for Saint Rose. Sophomore Jade Mallea turned aside six threats on target for the Setters, who set a school record with their 11 victories this autumn.
Notes: The Golden Knights have now won 15 matches in 12 of the past 17 years…Saint Rose is the top-ranked side in the United Soccer Coaches East Regional rankings for the eighth consecutive week…The Golden Knights are also tops in the second NCAA Regional Poll that was posted last Wednesday…Predanic, the 2019 NE10 Player of the Year, continues to lead the conference in goals (16), points (44), and assists (12)…She is also among the top-15 in each category nationally, and stands third with six game-winning goals…Freshman forward
Olivia Boucher is tied for third in the NE10 with 10 goals on the year…Laurendeau is second among the conference leaders with a 0.83 goals-against-average and fourth behind a 0.819 save percentage…Predanic and Burchhardt have accumulated 124 and 104 career points respectively…Saint Rose is the nation's lone squad with a pair of 100 point scorers…Predanic is now second on the College's all-time scoring list…Only former National Player of the Year Carmelina Puopolo ('14) produced more with 199 points…Burchhardt is tied for fifth herself with Drea Porteus ('03)…The Golden Knights have outscored their foes 51-15, including 28-5 in the first half…They continue to lead the NE10 in both scoring offense (2.83) and defense (0.81)…Saint Rose came into today with the country's 17th best record despite playing the 14th toughest schedule.
Golden Knights in the NE10 Championship: Saint Rose is seeking its eighth NE10 postseason title, only Franklin Pierce has won that many…The Golden Knights have made eight finals appearances…Thursday will mark their 17th semifinal appearance throughout their 20-year league tenure…Saint Rose won five consecutive postseason championships between 2007-11, and also hoisted the trophy in 2013 and 2014.
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