| Messiah College Falcons (No. 1 NSCAA / No. 2 D3Soccer.com) |
| Location: Grantham, PA
Coach: Scott Frey (16th season, 336-17-19 at Messiah entering the weekend)
2015 Record: 18-0-2, 8-0 MAC Commonwealth
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 16th (2000—present)
Last NCAA Tournament Result: 2014 Sectional Final, dropped 1-1 (2OT, PK) decision to eventual-champion Lynchburg |
How the Falcons got here: Messiah College enters the NCAA Tournament as an automatic qualifer (AQ) from MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons played as the top seed in the conference tournament and defeated Lebanon Valley (2-0) and Arcadia (1-0) to win their 14th conference title in 16 years. Messiah did all this after pushing their regular-season conference unbeaten streak to 109-0-1 dating back to the year 2000.
Scouting the Falcons: The Falcons are the nation's No. 1 team thanks to both an imposing offense and a stingy defense. They're sixth in the nation in goals per game (4.15), fifth in assists per game (3.35), and third in points per game (11.65). They're also second in shutout percentage (.850) and third in goals against average (GAA; 0.147). Nevertheless, as they were reminded of last season, Messiah knows that regular-season accomplishments mean very little when the NCAA postseason starts.
The Falcons are led by six double-digit scorers, with Nikki Elsaesser and her career-high goal (24) and assist (14) totals at the top. Marisa Weaver (13g, 3a) and Kyele Bridel (12g, 4a) are also above 10 goals scored. Holly Burgard (8g, 6a), Ally Reinhardt (8g, 2a), and Erin Sollenberger (3g, 4a) round out the double-digit scorers, but two other Falcons have also scored nine points. Messiah can beat teams from mostly anywhere on the field, demonstrated by 10 different players having tallied in their past six games alone.
Messiah has been just as good in the midfield and on defense thanks in large part to center midfielder and MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Year Macaulay Soto, and fellow All-Conference players Marisa DeMonte, Kayla Deckert, Missy Biener, and keeper Audra Larson. Summerly Merson is the only Messiah defender to not earn All-Conference honors, but she's carried just as much influence on the Falcons' defensive success as anyone else. In the net Larson carries a 0.180 GAA with a .903 save percentage, both career-best marks. She picked up nine shutouts this season and set the NCAA men's and women's soccer record for career shutouts (65 and counting).
Messiah played a strong schedule this season and earned solid wins over fellow NCAA Tourney participants No. 21 Johns Hopkins (5-0), Misericordia (6-0), and PSU-Berks (6-0), and a draw against No. 3 William Smith (1-1).
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| College of Staten Island Dolphins |
| Location: Staten Island, NY
Coach: Giuseppe Pennetti (1st season, 13-4-1 at Staten Island entering the weekend)
2015 Record: 13-4-1, 4-1-1 City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC)
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 1st
Last NCAA Tournament Result: n/a |
How the Dolphins got here: Staten Island qualified for their first-ever NCAA Tournament with a 2-1 win over Lehman in the CUNYAC Championship. The Dolphins' win was an upset over the No. 1-seeded Lightning in Pennetti's first season with the program.
Scouting the Dolphins: Staten Island are led by senior forwards Danielle Alexandrini and Samantha Wysokowski, both of whom have tallied 15 goals. Alexandrini has also tallied six assists to push her team-high point total to 36, two more than Wysokowski. Six other players have tallied double-digit points, including CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Lauren Smith (4g, 6a), and Jennifer Cosenza (4g, 6a). Impressively, the Dolphins have four players with at least six assists, and two others with at five assists. (The Dolphins' Danielle Smith, who was third on the team in points, was injured late in the season and will not be in uniform this weekend.)
The midfield and defense are led Krysta Peraccio, Danielle Smith, Cosenza, and keeper Kristry Colangelo, all players who earned First Team All-Conference honors. Colangelo has started every game for the Dolphins this season and holds a 1.02 GAA and .839 save percentage. She's also collected nine shutouts.
The Dolphins scored 64 goals in 18 games, though it's worth noting that 35 of those goals came in lopsided wins over Medgar Evers (14-0), York, N.Y. (11-0), and St. Joseph's (10-0). Nevertheless, Staten Island still outscored opponents 29-19 in their other 15 games.
Staten Island has won three games in a row to enter the weekend, with the aforementioned win over Lehman being a highlight after the Dolphins dropped a regular-season match to them by a 5-1 score.
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| Montclair State University Red Hawks (No. 20 D3Soccer.com) |
| Location: Montclair, NJ
Coach: Patrick Naughter (6th season, 89-21-13 at Montclair entering the weekend)
2015 Record: 14-3-2, 6-1-2 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC)
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 6th (2004, 2006, 2012—present)
Last NCAA Tournament Result: 2014 Sectional Semifinal, 2-0 loss to eventual-champion Lynchburg
How the Red Hawks got here: Montclair State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament to push their NCAA Tournament streak to four-straight seasons. The Red Hawks haven't played since Oct. 31 when they lost to Rutgers-Newark by a 1-0 score in the First Round of the NJAC Tourney. |
Scouting the Red Hawks: Montclair State hails from the ultra-competitive NJAC, which has two other teams in the NCAA Tournament this season. During the regular-season the Red Hawks went 0-1-1 against those teams, tying 0-0 against Rowan and losing 2-0 to TCNJ.
The Red Hawks have allowed just nine goals this season, and they've allowed just two goals in their past eight games. Keeper Erinne Finlayson has been a big factor over that stretch and more, as she's started the past seven games (11 starts overall). Finlayson is currently No. 6 nationally with a .172 GAA and No. 7 with a .902 save percentage.
NJAC Midfielder of the Year Martina Landeka is also a main factor in that defensive effort, and are defenders Erin Sullivan and Amanda Eustice, both of whom were also All-Conference honorees.
The Red Hawks are very balanced on the offensive end, with four players in double-figure points. Tyler Madison (9g, 1a) leads the team in goals and points (19), while Landeka (7g, 4a), Jennie Hornstra (6g, 2a), and Shawna Grabowski (5g, 2a) each have tallied at least five times. Five different players have tallied multiple game-winners, with Landeka and Ashley Koester tied with three each.
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| Springfield College Pride |
| Location: Springfield, MA
Coach: John Gibson (16th season, 202-94-34 at entering this weekend)
2015 Record: 11-5-5, 6-3-1 New England Men's and Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC)
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 9th (2005, 2007, 2008, 2010—present)
Last NCAA Tournament Result: 2014 First Round, 3-1 loss to Ithaca
How the Pride got here: In impressive fashion the Pride earned three-straight penalty kick shootout decisions to win the NEWMAC and qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Those decisions came 1-1 against WPI, 2-2 against MIT, and again 1-1 against Babson for the title clincher. This marks their sixth-straight trip to the NCAA playoff.
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Scouting the Pride: Springfield found some fortune by way of those three-straight shootout decisions to get into the Tournament, but that won't stop them from believing they can get of this weekend's pod. Like Montclair State, who lost at Messiah (to Lynchburg) last season in the NCAA Second Round, the Pride are making another trip to Grantham after playing here in the 2013 First Round (1-0 loss to Amherst).
The Pride had a knack for keeping games close in 2015, with just one of their fives losses coming by more than one goal. In total they allowed just 17 goals to opponents, but they've also scored just 32 goals themselves.
Twenty-six of those 32 goals were tallied from five different players, with Nicole Fowler (6g, 7a) and Jessica Miller (6a, 2a) leading the way with 19 points and 14 points, respectively. Fowler and midfielder Brooke Hattinger were named First Team All-NEWMAC.
Ciara Boucher has made 18 starts in the net for Springfield, and she's earned a 0.77 GAA with a .741 save percentage. She's also collected six shutouts.
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