Kelsey Doubles Down, Garnet Advance To ECAC Championship
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Freshman forward Kelsey Cline scored two goals and classmate Sarah Reece added another as the Swarthmore women's soccer team defeated Frostburg State 3-0 in semifinal action of the ECAC Division III Southern Region Saturday afternoon in western Pennsylvania.
The Garnet (14-2-2) advance into the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 11 at Grove City. Swarthmore will face Catholic (12-3-4), 1-0 winners over host Grove City, at 2:00 p.m. in a re-match of the season opener for both teams. The Garnet downed Catholic in the first match of the Swat Kick Classic on Sept. 1-- Swarthmore won 1-0 via Cline’s first career goal.
This is Swarthmore’s first ECAC Southern Region Championship appearance.
Cline got started early on Saturday, scoring both of her goals in the first 15 minutes of the game. The first tally, coming in the seventh minute, came off a long feed from sophomore back Eileen Earl (Redmond, Wash. / Inglemoor). Her second goal was a clean-up effort; classmate Megan Colombo (Arcadia, Calif. / Arcadia) shot was saved and Cline put it home at 13:01. She now has eight goals on the season, second on the team behind Colombo (nine goals).
Swarthmore’s vaunted backline kept the Bobcats (16-5-1) off the scoreboard, led by goalkeeper Lauren Walker (Fallston, Md. / The Hotchkiss School) who made 10 saves. Walker picked up her career-best ninth shutout of 2007—the Garnet have blanked 12 of their 18 opponents this season and improve to 6-1-1 on the road.
The Garnet defenders also got on the scoreboard when Reece, a back, headed home a Kirsten Peterson ’11 (Fenton, Mich. / Powers Catholic) corner kick at 54:47. It is the second goal of Reece’s career and the team-leading eighth assist for Peterson.