BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - In a battle of two of the best defenses in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), the Bloomsburg University women's soccer team prevailed over Mercyhurst University 2-0 in the first semifinals game, Friday afternoon. The Huskies used a pair of second half goals to send them to the conference title game and improve to 14-4-2 on the year. With the loss, Mercyhurst falls to 14-5-1 for the year and await a potential at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. 

After a scoreless first half, the Huskies capitalized on their seventh corner kick of the afternoon. Graduate student Natalie Holmes (Laurel, Md./Archbishop Spalding) put a ball into the air for the Huskies' set piece and freshman Erin Ranegan (Wilmington, Del./Conrad School of Science) jumped over the defense to get her head on the ball and place in the upper corner, just out of Mercyhurst's goalie's reach. Ranegan's strike broke the 0-0 deadlock and gave BU a 1-0 lead with just over 20 minutes to play in regulation. 

Ranegan's goal was the first allowed by the Mercyhurst in five games. 

The Huskies got another corner inthe 75th minute but sophomore Lauren Bull's (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) shot went just wide of the post. The Lakers had one of their best chances just two minutes later as Emily Mijares put a shot on goal in a tough spot for sophomore Alexa Ryan (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) but the first-year goalie was up for the task and turned away the attempt to keep her shut out. 

With just over nine minutes to play in regulation, the Huskies looked for an insurance goal as they were awarded their 10th corner kick of the game. Once again, Holmes set her offense up for success with a perfectly placed ball. This time Bull got up to get her head on it and put it down on the ground into the bottom corner of the net to give Bloomsburg a 2-0 advantage. 

Bloomsburg's defense sealed the game for the Huskies as they disrupted the last ditch efforts by the Lakers and did not allow Mercyhurst to get a shot off in the final nine minutes. 

Ryan turned in her 13th shut out of the season with a pair of goals - both in the second half. Bloomsburg's school record for most shut outs in a season is 13.5 clean sheets - set by Jenna Hawkins in 2019. 

For the game, the Huskies out-shot Mercyhurst 15-5 and held a commanding 10-1 advantage in corner kicks. The Huskies were led by Bull with five shots and senior Paige Harris (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) with four. 

Mercyhurst's goalie, Maddie Elbro made four saves for the game. 

The Huskies advance to the 2021 PSAC Championship game on Sunday at 1:00 pm at Steph Pettit Stadium. Bloomsburg will play No. 4 Millersville. The Marauders defeated Gannon 1-0 in the second semifinals match on Friday afternoon.