Garnet Women Lope Into ECAC Finals
FROSTBURG, Md. -- The Swarthmore women's soccer team will get the opportunity to defend its ECAC South Region title, as three Garnet sophomores scored goals in a 3-0 victory over Westminster at the 2008 ECAC South Region Semifinals on the campus of Frostburg State Saturday afternoon.
The Garnet (10-4-5) will play in the championship match on Sunday, November 16 against host Frostburg State. The Bobcats (16-2-3) topped Dickinson, 2-0, to reach the finals. Kick off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Fans can follow Live Stats by clicking here.
Swarthmore won the 2007 ECAC South Region Championship by topping Catholic in a penalty kick shoot-out. Senior captain Cait Mullarkey (Wilmington, Del. / Ursuline Academy) was named MVP.
The Garnet have been besieged by injuries in the later half of 2008, relying on its stellar defensive unit to make its third consecutive appearance in the Centennial Conference Championships and the E.C.A.C. Championships. Offense has been few and far between for the Swarthmore women; the Garnet have accounted for just four goals in the last eight matches (1-2-5). Their confidence rarely wavered and the trademark effort was evident each contest, most recently the double-overtime draw at Delaware Valley in the ECAC South first round where Swarthmore shut down one of the region’s top forwards.
Swarthmore, for the third season, endured a long bus ride to the ECAC South Championships and magically found its offensive touch. Sophomore forward Kelsey Cline (Stanwood, Wash. / Stanwood) continued her hot second half in the opening minutes. She took a feed from classmate Hannah Purkey (Palo Alto, Calif. / Palo Alto) in the third minute of the match and deposited her fourth goal of the season into the top left corner. Cline has scored Swarthmore’s last three goals, dating back to a 1-1 tie with Gettysburg on October 25.
The Garnet owned a 1-0 lead the intermission and tallied an 8-4 advantage in shots.
More Swarthmore offense developed at the onset of the second period. All-Centennial forward Megan Colombo (Arcadia, Calif. / Arcadia) notched her seventh goal of the season at 50:47, finishing off a set piece from a Garnet throw-in. Cline and classmate Sarah Reece (Manhattan Beach, Calif. / Mira Costa) received assists on the play.
Swarthmore would push its lead to 3-0 six minutes later. It was Purkey’s turn to score, tallying her second goal of the season off a long serve from freshman defender Maddie Williams (Kennett Square, Pa. / Kennett).
The Garnet defense held strong, posting the team’s 12th shutout of the season. Garnet goalkeepers Lauren Walker ’09 (Fallston, Md. / The Hotchkiss School [CT]) and Marie Mutryn '12 (Rexford Falls, N.Y. / Niskayuna) combined for five saves.
Click here for the BOX SCORE.