Women's Soccer | 11/11/2021 9:35:00 PM
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – With a win on Tuesday night, the No. 2 seed Bloomsburg University women's soccer team earned the right to host the rest of the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship tournament. The Huskies open the weekend with a meeting with the No. 1 seed from the West – Mercyhurst University on Friday.
Game Information
Friday, November 12 • 12:30 pm
Steph Pettit Stadium • Bloomsburg, Pa.
Gates open at 11:00 am
Bloomsburg Tournament Central
Mercyhurst Game Preview
Admission (CASH ONLY!)
$10 for adults
$5 for student age
No admission charge for students who attend a PSAC institution
Game Coverage
Live Video –
Courtesy of BUSN
Live Stats
The Game
Bloomsburg comes into the game after defeating No. 3/#23 West Chester 1-0 on Tuesday in the first round of the tournament. Junior
Abby Groff (Sellersville, Pa./Pennridge) netted the game-winner for BU in the 14
th minute of the contest. The Huskies defense took over from there and sealed the first-round win.
Meanwhile, the Lakers come into the game after defeating Edinboro 2-0 on Tuesday. Amber Thomas and Karah Van Horn scored for Mercyhurst to lead the Lakers to the win. The Lakers come into the game on a six-game winning streak which includes four shut outs.
The Series
Bloomsburg owns a 9-7-3 advantage in the all-time series over the Lakers. This is the first meeting between the two teams in the postseason. The Huskies and the Lakers have tied 0-0 in two of the last three meetings while the Huskies picked up a 2-1 win in Bloomsburg back in 2017. The Huskies are 6-3-2 all time against Mercyhurst on their home field.
Scouting the Huskies
Bloomsburg enters the tournament as the top defensive team in the PSAC this season. The Huskies boast a measly 0.41 goals against average for the season and have posted a conference-best 12 shut outs in 19 games. Just once this season has a team scored more than one goal on the Huskies as Kutztown earned a 2-1 win earlier this season. Bloomsburg is sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 1.78 goals per game and have been shut out just four times.
Leading the defense for Bloomsburg is sophomore goalie
Alexa Ryan (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus). Ryan has started in every game for the Huskies as has played every minute of the season. She has a 0.41 GAA after allowing just eight goals in 19 games. Ryan has 33 saves this season for a .810 save percentage. Senior defender
Natalie Holmes (Laurel, Md./Archbishop Spalding) is an anchor on the Huskies back line once again this season. Holmes leads the team with five goals and four assists so far this year and is a perfect 4-for-4 on penalty kicks. Holmes' defense has limited opponents to just 94 shots this year and just 42 shots on goal.
On the offensive side of the field, seniors
Paige Harris (Danville, Pa./Danville Area),
Helen Flynn (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) and freshman
Brooke Foster (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) have provided offensive fireworks for the Huskies. Each have four goals on the year while Harris added three assists to her stat line this season. Junior Campbell leads the team with four assists to go with a pair of game-winning goals this season.
Sophomore
Lauren Bull (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) has provided a spark to the Huskies' line up in the last two weeks as she scored three game-winning goals in her first three games in the lineup.
Scouting the Lakers
The Lakers' lineup boasts one of the top scorers in the PSAC this season with Emily Mijares leading the league with 13 goals this year. Mijares has seven game-winning goals for Mercyhurst and has four assists for 30 points this year. Karah Van Horn is second on the team with five goals and three assists while Amber Thomas has five goals and a pair of assists for Mercyhurst. Dani Hartman leads the team with seven assists and one goal for seven points.
Defensively, the Lakers are the third-best defensive team in the PSAC with a .63 goals against average for the year. Maddie Elbro is second in the league with 10 shut outs this season, just behind Ryan of the Huskies. Elbro is fifth in the league with an 0.842 save percentage.
Semifinal Game Two - No. 2 (W) Gannon vs No. 4 ( E) Millersville
After advancing on penalty kicks against No. 1/#3 Kutztown University, the No. 4 seeded Millersville Marauders claimed the only upset so far in the PSAC Tournament. The Marauders tied the game against Kutztown early in the second half and advanced to the semifinals thanks to a 5-4 advantage in penalty kicks following the second overtime. The decision officially goes down as a tie for both teams as the only time a game can have a winner from PKs is the NCAA National Championship game.
No. 2 Gannon advanced to the semifinals after a 5-3 win over No. 4 Slippery Rock on Tuesday.
PSAC All-Conference Honorees
The championship weekend will feature 17 All-Conference honorees between the four teams, two Defensive Athletes of the Year, one Athlete and one Rookie of the Year, and the Coach of the Year. In the East, the Huskies' graduate student
Natalie Holmes (Laurel, Md./Archbishop Spalding) was named the PSAC Defensive Player of the Year and six players between the Huskies and Marauders were named to the All-PSAC East First Team. Two other players from Millersville earned Second Team accolades as well.
On the Western side of the conference, Emily Mijares from Mercyhurst was named the Athlete of the Year and Rookie of the Year while her teammate Maddie Elbro nabbed Defensive Athlete of the Year honors. Gannon's head coach Colin Petersen took home Coach of the Year accolades.
Up Next
The winner of Friday's contest will advance to the championship game of the PSAC Tournament against the winner of the No. 2 (West) Gannon University/No. 4 (East) Millersville match up. Game time for the championship is set for 1:00 pm at Steph Pettit Stadium.
