Mount Women 's Soccer Earns School 's Fourth HCAC Title
November 2, 2008
GREENWOOD , IN - The Mount St. Joseph women's soccer program earned the outright HCAC Championship for the fourth time in school history and secured the top seed for the conference tournament. The top-seed Lions are playing great soccer heading into tournament play, posting a 11-1-2 record in their last 14 games. Mount will battle No. 4 seeded Rose-Hulman in one semifinal, while second seeded Transylvania will host No. 3 Manchester in the second semifinal.
Mount St. Joseph finished the regular season with a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play and a 12-4-2 overall record. The Lions secured the outright conference championship with a 1-0 double overtime win over Transylvania October 28. Senior forward Beth Schuermann (Cincinnati , Ohio /Home Schooled) scored the game's only goal in the second overtime to deliver the championship to the Lions.
Mount St. Joseph and Rose-Hulman (12-6, 5-3 HCAC) met back on October 4 in Cincinnati as the Lions earned a 1-0 overtime victory over the Engineers. Sophomore midfielder Ashley Maynard (Milford , Ohio /H.S.) scored the overtime goal to lead the Lions to the win. Senior goalkeeper Kelly Bare (Cincinnati , Ohio /Colerain) posted the shutout in the win and has allowed only one goal during conference play. Rose-Hulman's Liz Ridgway (Grosse Point , Mich. /Northwestern Uni.) and Molly Richardson (Orange Park , Fla. / St. John's ) rank first and second in the conference in points scored. Ridgway has 44 points and 19 goals scored this season, while Richardson has netted 17 goals and 42 points this fall. The winner of the 7:00 PM match-up will advance on to this weekend's championship match.
Manchester (9-9, 5-3 HCAC) and Transylvania (12-5, 7-1 HCAC) will meet in the second semi-final. The Pioneers defeated the Spartans 4-0 in Lexington on September 27. Transy's Kate McKelway (Lexington , Ky. /Catholic) scored two goals and added an assist in the win over Manchester . The junior midfielder leads the team in scoring this season with nine goals. Action will get underway from Lexington at 5:00 PM Wednesday night.
The winner of the conference tournament will earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III tournament that is slated to begin on November 12. The highest remaining seed after the two semi-finals will host the conference tournament final at a time to be determined Saturday.