Women's Soccer Clinches PL Berth On Senior Night

Saturday, October 25

West Point, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Army West Point

7-7-3, 4-1-3

Lafayette

5-10-0 2-6-0PL

Team	1	2	Final F
Lafayette	0	0	0
Army	1	1	2

Women's Soccer Clinches PL Berth On Senior Night

October 25, 2014 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Sophomore Sam Gottlieb tallied just before halftime and senior Madison Oliver's free kick late in the game set up an own goal as the Army women's soccer team clinched a spot to the Patriot League Tournament after earning a 2-0 victory over Lafayette on Senior Night Saturday evening at Clinton Field.

The Black Knights leveled their season mark at 7-7-3 and are 4-1-3 in conference play with just one game remaining. It is the second straight year Army clinched a berth to the tournament and 19th time overall.

Army outshot Lafayette 7-5 in the first half and 12-6 in the second for a 19-11 advantage, and both had four corner kicks. Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Cassalia finished with four saves, three in the second half, and her counterpart, Danielle Sedillo, had nine saves.

Just before Gottlieb tallied the first goal of the game, Lafayette's Jaclyn Giordano had beaten an Army defender on a counterattack and was headed to the goal to take on Cassalia one-on-one, but her shot from 18 yards went over the crossbar.

In the 43rd minute, Gottlieb converted a cross from freshman Madison McGinn into the right corner of the net from 10 yards for her third goal of the season and first game winner as Army made that lead stand. The assist is the third of the season for McGinn.

Both Army and Lafayette increased the pace in the second half as they combined for 18 shots with eight of the Black Knights' 12 shots on goal and three of the Leopards' six.

The first eight shots of the second half were on goal with the Black Knights booting six attempts with Hanna Rozzi firing two along with shots by Katie Holder, Bailey Widman, Clare Shea and McGinn. Cassalia had a pair of back-to-back saves over a two-minute span during that run.

Late in the game, Allie Torrun's shot off the back of her heel in front of the goal was smothered by Cassalia in the 76th minute for her final save in preserving her third shutout of the season, all in conference play. Cassalia has ranked among the nation's leaders all season and is currently 16th.

Just over four minutes later, Oliver's free kick from midfield resulted in an own goal following a deflicted off of Lafayette's Kelly Chickering that boosted Army's lead to 2-0.

"It is awesome," said Oliver following her final regular-season game at West Point. "The girls worked hard and my teammates wanted me to take the shot. I had a feeling when I took it. It felt awesome clinching a spot to the Patriot League Tournament."

Army head coach Marcia McDermott had words of praise for the crowd, which numbered over 800 that cheered the team on and chanted throughout 90 minutes of action.

"Tonight was a tremendous effort by the team against a great opponent, "said Army second-year coach Marcia McDermott. "It was a great atmosphere and we are happy for our seniors (Lara Wilson, Mallory Herron, Linda Rosas, Oliver, Ellen Duckwall).

"The crowd here was outstanding and made an enormous difference. We always feel good at home and they really give us the home field advantage when you get that kind of support from the crowd.

"Of course, clinching a berth to the Patriot League Tournament is a big step, and now we go on to the next step against Navy (regular-season finale Oct. 31 in Annapolis, Md.). We are excited as it is a great rivalry and we really look forward to playing it."

NOTES: Army is one of four teams thus far to clinch a berth to the Patriot League Tournament. The Black Knights (4-1-3) have 15 points and are currently in third place ... Colgate is first with 19 points (6-1-1), Navy is second with 16 (5-1-1) and Boston University has 14 points (4-1-2) ... the Midshipmen and Terriers play on Sunday against Loyola and American, respectively.

Two spots remain with Bucknell (4-3-1) in fifth place with 13 points and Lehigh (2-2-4) next with 10 points looking to earn a berth.