No. 23 Bridgeport Knocks Off Women's Soccer in ECC Semis, 3-1
Box Score
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Nov. 7, 2013) - No. 23 ranked and top-seeded Bridgeport notched three first-half goals in a nine-plus minute span Thursday to top the fourth-seeded LIU Post women's soccer team, 3-1, in an East Coast Conference Championship semifinal at Knights' Field in Bridgeport, Conn.
UB, which now advances to Saturday's final, opened the scoring at the 33:29 mark. Freshman midfielder Tabea Rauschenberger (Muhlacker, Germany) sent a free kick over the Pioneers' wall that sophomore midfielder Flo Gamby (Goffs Oak, England) headed into the right-side netting from inside the 18-yard box.
Less than five minutes later, a scramble in front doubled the Purple Knights' lead. Off a broken play, sophomore midfielder/forward Gabby Reis (West Haven, Conn.) fired a shot by freshman goalkeeper
Hreffie Agnarsdottir (Reykjavik, Iceland), making it a 2-0 game.
Then, in the 43rd minute, junior midfielder/forward Danielle Puddefoot (Slough, England) capped things off for UB. With Agnarsdottir a few yards off her line, Puddefoot ripped a 30-yarder over the netminder's reach, and into the mesh. The hosts would take that three-goal advantage into the break.
Earlier in the stanza, however, sophomore midfielder
Hanna Westerling (Alvadalen, Sweden) just missed a chance to give LIU Post an early lead. With 20:22 elapsed, she intercepted a pass, but placed a shot, from point-blank range, just off the outside of the right post.
In the latter session, the Pioneers, who held a 7-6 edge in shots in the period, netted their lone tally of the contest. Freshman forward/midfielder
Julia Backman (Morsil, Sweden) accounted for the goal, curving a free kick around the defensive wall, and past Julia Hansson (Tocksfors, Sweden), in the 81st minute.
Between the pipes, Agnarsdottir finished with seven saves. Meanwhile, Hansson, the 2013 ECC Goalkeeper of the Year, stopped two shots.
Head Coach
Mark Dawson and his LIU Post squad now await word on a potential bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship. The bracket is slated to be released early next week on NCAA.com.