ASHVILLE, N.C. -- In a rematch of the HVIAC women's soccer championship game, HVIAC Co-Player of the Year Katie Benson scored in the 73rd minute to propel Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences to a 1-0 semifinal victory over SUNY-ESF to clinch a spot for the Panthers in their first United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championship game.
The No. 2 seeded Panthers will face No. 1 seed and defending national champion University of Maine at Fort Kent tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. Live video and stats will be available at http://soccer.theuscaa.com
In the men's national semifinal, the other remaining HVIAC team No. 4 Berkeley College fell to No. 1 Bryant & Stratton College Syracuse, 2-1.
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Recaps courtesy of the USCAA
#2 Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences 1 - #3 SUNY ESF 0
RECORDS: #2 Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences 15-3-1 - #3 SUNY ESF 11-3-2
LOCATION: 2015 USCAA Women's Soccer National Championship, Asheville, North Carolina
IN BRIEF: #2 Albany College of Pharmacy scores lone goal of the contest late to beat #3 SUNY ESF in the semi-finals of the USCAA Women's Soccer National Championship.
ON THE FIELD: In a rematch of the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's championship game, Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences (ACPHS) once again came out on top. The game was very much back and forth throughout the entire first half and much of the second. SUNY ESF outshot ACPHS 14 to 12 and also had two more shots on target. However, it was first team All-American Katie Benson from ACPHS that put away the winning goal in the 74th minute of the contest. The goal was Benson's 28th of the season, breaking Albany's all-time single season scoring record of 27, which has stood since 1998. For SUNY ESF, Bryony Striffler led the teamwith three shots on goal off of four attempts. ACPHS move on to their first women's soccer National Championship game in program history.
NEXT UP: #2 Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences will play #1 University of Maine – Fort Kent in the National Championship game at 11:30AM(EST) on Saturday. The two matched up in the semi-finals of the 2012 USCAA Championships, when it was last played in Asheville, NC. UMFK defeated ACPHS in the contest. SUNY ESF ends an outstanding season at 11-3-2.
#1 Bryant & Stratton College Syracuse 2 - #4 Berkeley College NY 1
RECORDS: #1 Bryant & Stratton College Syracuse 15-1 #4 Berkeley College NY – 15-8
LOCATION: 2015 USCAA Men's Soccer National Championship, Asheville, North Carolina
IN BRIEF: #1 Bryant & Stratton College comes from behind to defeat #4 Berkeley College NY in the semi-finals of the USCAA Men's Soccer National Championship.
ON THE FIELD: It took Berkeley College almost 70 minutes to score their first goal of the game. However, the Bobcats would go on to score two in just over three minutes to secure a late win over the Knights of Berkeley College. Berkeley College opened the scoring in the 41stminute of the contest from an unassisted strike from Hasan Sezer. A defensive battle ensued in the second half, until USCAA All-American Dennis Ntsin knocked in a cross in the box from Shavon John-Brown. In the 72nd minute, Scott Robson scored an unassisted goal to put the Bobcats up 2-1. Berkeley had several late opportunities, but were unable to capitalize, sending #1 Bryant & Stratton to their first ever USCAA National Championship game. Bryant & Stratton created the most opportunities in the game with 9 of 21 shots on goal and 8 corner kicks, opposed to Berkeley who only had 8 total shots in the contest.
NEXT UP: #1 Bryant & Stratton College Syracuse moves on to play #2 University of Maine – Fort Kent in the National Championship game at 2:30PM(EST) on Saturday. Bryant & Stratton defeated UMFK by one in regular season play. Berkeley College NY ends an outstanding season as Hudson Valley Conference Champions with a 15-8 overall record.
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Recap courtesy of Albany Pharmacy
The ACPHS women's soccer team made history today in more ways than one. They faced the #3 seed, and conference rivals, SUNY ESF in the semi-finals of the USCAA National Soccer Championship Tournament.
The Panthers defeated the ESF Mighty Oaks 1-0 for the third time this season. Freshman Katie Benson also scored the game winner in the 73rd minute which broke the ACPHS single season goal record netting her 28th goal of the season. The single season record of 27 goals, which has stood since 1998, was held by Amy Murphy.
This is the first time in ACPHS athletics history that the women's soccer team has advanced to the USCAA National Championship game. The Panthers will face #1 seed University of Maine at Fort Kent, who are the defending USCAA National Champions, at John B. Lewis Field at 11:30am.
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Recap courtesy of SUNY-ESF
It was familiar territory and a familiar opponent for the Mighty Oaks women Friday, Nov. 6, as they fell 1-0 to Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in the semifinals of the USCAA soccer national championships in Asheville, North Carolina.
The Mighty Oaks had defeated Illinois Tech, 1-0, in the quarterfinals Nov. 5 to set up the matchup.
This was the third meeting of the season between ESF and Albany Pharmacy and the second time the two teams have met in the USCAA national tournament (the Mighty Oaks defeated the Panthers at last year's USCAA tournament 1-0 in double overtime). This sesaon, the Panthers defeated ESF 5-2 during the regular season and knocked off the Mighty Oaks in penalty kicks just two weeks ago in the HVIAC tournament.
In the first half of the national semifinal, ESF controlled possession, earning five corner kicks in the first 10 minutes but the Mighty Oaks were not able to convert any into goals. The offense continued to push the ball with the Mighty Oaks outshooting the Panthers with four direct shots on goal. At the half, the score was 0-0. Playing their second game in two days, the Mighty Oaks came out a little flat in the second half, allowing a goal at the 73rd minute to Albany Pharmacy after failing to clear the ball. ESF fought hard until the end but could not muster up a game-tying goal.
The women's soccer team ends its season with a winning of 12-2-1.
