Game Notes

MEADVILLE, Pa. - The Allegheny women's soccer team begins its quest for a second consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference championship on Wednesday, as they host Denison University at 2 p.m. at the Robertson Athletic Complex.

The Gators (14-5, 7-1 NCAC), who enter the playoffs riding a six-game winning streak, earned the No. 2 seed for the tourney, while the Big Red (13-5, 6-2 NCAC) enter as the third seed.  The winner will advance to the NCAC championship match on Saturday, against the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal battle between No. 1 Kenyon and No. 4 Wittenberg.

This will mark the second meeting of the season between the Gators and Big Red, as Allegheny won 1-0 at Denison on Sept. 27 in the NCAC-opener for each squad.  That contest was a tale of two halves, as the Gators were out-shot 12-5 in the opening 45 minutes, before turning the tables and owning a 13-5 advantage in shots in the second half, capped off with junior Hannah Zangara's game-winning goal, assisted by classmate Olivia Cushman, in the game's 63rd minute.  Allegheny senior goalkeeper Gabby Curtis made a season-high eight saves to earn the shutout victory.

Allegheny went 7-1 in NCAC play during the regular season, ending in a tie for first in the conference standings with Kenyon.  The Gators were granted the No. 2 seed by virtue of their 3-2 double-overtime loss to the first-place Ladies on Oct. 4.

The loss to Kenyon was the first of two consecutive overtime defeats for the Gators, as they fell 2-1 to Fredonia State three days later,  Since then, however, Allegheny has been rolling, winning six straight NCAC matches, out-scoring their opponents a combined 11-0 during the span.

For the second consecutive season, the Allegheny offense has been spearheaded by sophomore Jessie Thiessen.  The reigning NCAC Newcomer of the Year, Thiessen leads her team in goals (8), assists (8), and points (24), ranking among the top three in the NCAC in all three categories.  Thiessen, who scored both goals in Allegheny's 2-0 win in their regular-season finale against Wittenberg this past Saturday, turned it on over the second half of the season, with 12 points (3 goals/6 assists) in the last eight games.

Zangara, who battled through injury through the early stages of the season, has also come on as of late, scoring all four of her goals (including three game-winners) over her final seven games.  Seniors Faith Robinson and Tori Delzer have each chipped in three goals on the year, while six players have scored twice.  In all, 12 different players have found the goal column for the Gators, who rank second in the NCAC, behind only Denison, with 34 goals on the year.

Much like during last season's NCAC championship run, the Gators have complemented their formidable offense with an extremely stingy defense, as they have given up a conference-low 15 goals on the season, with 12 shutouts, also best in the NCAC.  Curtis ranks first in the conference in goals-against average (0.70) and shutouts (11), as she's stopped 56 of 68 shots on goal.  Led by the 2013 All-NCAC duo of junior Lauren Miller and senior Jaymee Wallace, the Gator backs and mids have been suffocating, surrendering an average of just 9.6 total shots, and 4.1 shots on goal, per game.

Like Allegheny, Denison also enters the NCAC postseason on a roll, as the Big Red are winners of five straight.  Most recently, the Big Red came back late to score a 2-1 overtime win at DePauw in Saturday's regular season finale.  The host Tigers took an early 1-0 lead in the game's 10th minute, and looked poised to pick up the victory, until Denison's Anne Denz scored the equalizer with just over five minutes left in the second half.  The Big Red kept the momentum entering overtime, as Meg Wozniak scored the game-winner four minutes into the extra session.  DePauw owned a 13-11 advantage in shots for the game, with Denison keeper Jenny Herold earning the win in goal with seven saves.

Denison closed out the regular season with the NCAC's top-ranked offense, totaling 49 goals, while out-scoring their NCAC opposition by a combined 18-5.  Fifteen different Big Red players have scored at least once on the year, led by the trio of Wozniak, Andrea White, and Ashlyn Flaherty, who have seven goals apiece.  White has also produced an NCAC-leading 10 assists.  Defensively, the Big Red are second in the league only to the Gators with a goals-against average of 0.83, surrendering 15 total in their 18 games.  Herold has started all 18 games on the season, posting 63 saves, seven shutouts, and an 0.84 goals against average.

Both the Gators and Big Red are seasoned veterans of the NCAC tournament.  Appearing in their second straight conference tourney, and third in four years, Allegheny has qualified for the conference postseason 10 times since the league adopted the tournament format in 2000.  Denison has appeared in 13 of the last 14 NCAC tournaments, winning the league title in 2003 and 2010.  This will mark the third time in which the Gators and Big Red meet in the playoffs, with Denison winning the previous two.  in 2010, the Big Red topped Allegheny 1-0 in the conference finals, and in 2001, Denison won 1-0 in the semifinals.  In all, Allegheny is 5-9 all-time in the NCAC postseason, and Denison is 9-11.

 

ALLEGHENY SEASON SCHEDULE				DENISON SEASON SCHEDULE
Aug. 29	at Nazareth	L, 0-3		Aug. 29	ADRIAN	W, 6-0
Aug. 30	at R.I.T.	L, 0-1		Aug. 30	MANCHESTER	W, 11-0
Sep. 3	at John Carroll	W, 1-0 (2 OT)		Sep. 6	at Thomas More	L, 0-5
Sep. 5	vs. Baldwin-Wallace	W, 4-0		Sep. 7	at Hanover	W, 2-1 (OT)
Sep. 6	at Capital	W, 2-1		Sep. 10	OTTERBEIN	W, 2-0
Sep. 10	GROVE CITY	W, 1-0		Sep. 13	at Chicago	L, 0-2
Sep. 13	MOUNT UNION	W, 4-1		Sep. 17	OHIO NORTHERN	W, 1-0
Sep. 17	at Buffalo St.	W, 1-0		Sep. 20	CENTRE	L, 0-1
Sep. 20	SUNY-ONEONTA	L, 1-2		Sep. 24	at Earlham	W, 7-0
Sep. 24	PITT-BRADFORD	W, 4-0		Sep. 27	ALLEGHENY*	L, 0-1
Sep. 27	at Denison*	W, 1-0		Oct. 4	at Hiram*	W, 1-0
Oct. 4	at Kenyon*	L, 2-3 (2 OT)		Oct. 11	WITTENBERG*	W, 4-2
Oct. 7	FREDONIA	L, 1-2 (OT)		Oct. 14	KENYON*	L, 0-1
Oct. 14	OBERLIN*	W, 1-0		Oct. 18	at Wooster*	W, 1-0
Oct. 18	OHIO WESLEYAN*	W, 8-0		Oct. 22	at Ohio Wesleyan*	W, 6-0
Oct. 22	at Hiram*	W, 1-0		Oct. 25	CASE WESTERN	W, 1-0
Oct. 25	at DePauw*	W, 1-0		Oct. 28	OBERLIN*	W, 5-0
Oct. 28	WOOSTER*	W, 1-0		Nov. 1	at DePauw*	W, 2-1 (OT)
Nov. 1	WITTENBERG*	W, 2-0