Maggie, Garnet Got Something To Say to You
BALTIMORE, Md. - Garnet freshman midfielder Maggie DeLorme scored the only goal of the night as the Swarthmore women's soccer team advanced to its first Centennial Conference Championship game ever with a 1-0 win over second-seeded Gettysburg at Homewood Field on the campus of Johns Hopkins University on Friday night.
Swarthmore (14-3-1 overall), winners of seven in a row, will continue its magical season on Sunday, November 5, facing top-seed Johns Hopkins at 1:00 p.m. in Baltimore. The Blue Jays won the opening semifinal 3-1 over fourth-seed Muhlenberg, getting a goal and an assist from junior Kim Lane to advance to its fifth Centennial Conference Championship match.
On this chilly evening in Charm City, the Garnet avenged a 3-2 loss at Gettysburg on Sept. 24, downing the Bullets for just the third time since 1988 (3-16-1).
The Garnet scored the game's lone goal off a well-executed corner kick in the 21st minute. Senior Natalie Negrey put the ball in the place where DeLorme excels - the air. The pony-tailed first-year headed in the offering inside the near post at 20:37 for a 1-0 lead. It was DeLorme's second goal of the season and Negrey's Centennial-leading sixth assist of the year.
Swarthmore took the 1-0 lead into the intermission with the shot count knotted at five a side.
Kanuka had a great chance to add to the lead in the 52nd minute, touching the ball away from the Bullets' goalkeeper Danielle St. Pierre towards the left end line. The freshman forward's attempt at the open net rolled along the goal line and out the other side.
The Bullets almost tied the score in the 56th minute when a long service got over the Garnet defense and Gettysburg forward Katie Myers ran onto the ball 12 yards out. Swarthmore goalkeeper Lauren Walker met Myers at the ball and knocked the scoring attempt clear.
Kanuka had another golden opportunity in the 65th minute when her chip from 22 yards out nailed the right post. She got loose on a breakaway in the 81st minute and tried to make a move left but St. Pierre lunged at the ball, stopping the Swarthmore scoring opportunity. The Garnet backline thwarted a pair of Bullets corner kicks late in the match, posting the team's ninth shut-out of the year.
Walker made five saves for her seventh shutout of the season; St. Pierre posted four saves as Gettysburg slips to 12-6-1.
Swarthmore second-year coach Todd Anckaitis is the sixth Garnet head coach to win a Centennial playoff game, joining Renee Clarke (softball - 2006), Lee Wimberly (men's basketball - 1997), Karen Borbee (field hockey - 2000), Adrienne Shibles (women's basketball - 2001, '02, '05), and Jeremy Loomis (women's tennis - 2006).