Nov 2, 2008

PHILADELPHIA SECURES TOP SEED FOR CACC WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT

Philadelphia University has claimed the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Soccer Tournament, which begins on Monday, Nov. 3. The Lady Rams won the tournament championship in 2006 before falling in last year's title game to Holy Family University.

Georgian Court University secured the second seed with a 7-1-3 conference record and a 9-6-5 overall mark. Holy Family (8-10-2, 7-2-2) is the third seed and Caldwell (7-10-1, 7-3-1) earned the fourth seed. The top four seeds will all host quarterfinal games on Monday at 2:00 pm. Philadelphia will welcome No. 8 Dominican College (6-10-1, 5-5-1), Georgian Court hosts No. 7 Post University (6-11-2, 5-5-1), Holy Family will host Felician College (10-9, 6-5) and Caldwell will face Nyack College (10-7, 6-5).

Philadelphia became the second consecutive regular-season champion to go through the conference schedule without a loss, finishing with an 8-0-3 mark to go with a 9-6-4 overall record.  Holy Family accomplished the feat last season. The Lady Rams concluded the season by going 7-0-1 in their final eight conference games. The squad is led by senior goalkeeper Sara Hall, who allows only 1.08 goals per-game and owns a .847 save percentage. She has posted four shutouts so far this season. On offense, sophomore Natalie Vespe leads the way with six goals and 13 points, while senior midfielder Rebecca Kennedy paces the team with five assists.

Holy Family, which has won six of the last nine CACC Tournament Championships, will look for its second straight title after upending Philadelphia, 1-0, last season. Kaitlin Gavaghan, who is a senior on this season's squad, scored the lone goal in that game. The Lady Rams defeated the Tigers, 5-4, in a penalty kick shootout in the 2006 title game after regulation and two overtime periods ended with the score knotted at 1-1.

Felician sophomore forward D.J. Jacobowitz leads the conference in both points and goals with 44 and 20, respectively. She is the co-leader in goals with Georgian Court freshman Kelly Lyons. Lyons also ranks second in points with 43.

Felician's Lindsey Petry and GCU's Shannon Mastrogiovanni pace the conference with 11 assists each.

In goal, Philadelphia's Sara Hall leads the CACC in goals-against average (1.08) and she is followed closely by GCU junior Lindsay Hammond. Hammond also leads the CACC in save percentage (.857). Hall is second in that category (.847).

The winner of the quarterfinal match between Philadelphia and Dominican will play either Caldwell or Nyack in a semifinal game on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 12:00 pm. The Georgian Court/Post winner will face either Holy Family or Felician at 2:30 pm. Both games will be played at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School near the campus of Chestnut Hill College. The championship game is slated for 5:30 pm at the same field on Saturday, Nov. 8.

Quarterfinal Round - Monday, Nov. 3

#8 Dominican at #1 Philadelphia - 2:00 pm

#7 Post at #2 Georgian Court - 2:00 pm

#6 Felician at #3 Holy Family - 2:00 pm

#5 Nyack at #4 Caldwell - 2:00 pm

Semifinal Round - at Plymouth Whitemarsh - Wednesday, Nov. 5

Philadelphia/Dominican vs. Caldwell/Nyack - 12:00

Georgian Court/Post vs. Holy Family/Felician  - 2:30 pm

Championship Game - at Plymouth Whitemarsh

Saturday, Nov. 8, 5:30 pm