The Women’s Soccer team has battled its way through the playoffs to earn themselves a spot in the MAC Freedom title match. It is the first time the team made the finals since 2005 and the third time for Coach John Sumoski.

The Colonel’s season came down to their match against Manhattanville. They needed to win to clinch the fourth spot in the playoffs. In a double overtime win, the Colonels reached a record of 6-10-2, which pushed them into the semi-finals.

The Colonels were the first to score in that game, in the 11th minute. Lauren Essler shot against the goalie, and Emily Wirth took the shot after the rebound to score. Manhattanville scored in the 81st minute, which left the game tied until double overtime. Nicolette Towlen shot at the goalie in double overtime and Micaela Oliverio scored off the rebound to win the game. Kate Mahoney made six saves.

The Colonels entered the playoffs in the fourth spot, and had to face Misericordia who was in first place in the conference. Mahoney came up big, with 12 saves in the game. Misericordia’s offense was pressing the Colonels for most of the game, but Mahoney stayed strong in the goal.

The game remained scoreless until the final shoot-out. Jess Benjamin scored the first goal, then Misericordia matched the goal making the score 1-1. Megan Lercara scored the second goal and it was also matched making the score 2-2. Elena Denger scored followed by a miss from Misericordia taking the lead 3-2. Ema Sabovic scored along with Misericordia bringing the score to 4-3. Brittany Gurreri scored the final goal sealing the victory and clinching the spot in the MAC finals against DeSales.

Mahoney, Oliverio and Denger all made the Second Team All-MAC Freedom. They have all performed well throughout the season.

Mahoney’s goal saving average ranks her fifth in the conference, and she has the third most saves. She has saved more than 10 goals in three games, and one of those games was the 12 saves against Misericordia. She also has six shut-outs during this season.

Oliverio has been the main offensive threat. She has five goals this season, and she leads the offense.

“We’ve grown together as a team throughout the season. We had a little bit of a rough patch in the middle of the season because we were struggling to work together as a team,” Oliverio said. She is happy how far the team has come.

“It’s so amazing to make it to the finals. Just the fact that we were the underdog made it ten times more exciting to beat Misericordia and play in the final,” Oliverio said.

Denger anchored the mid-field and backline throughout the season. She has kept the shot count low from opposing teams.

“Although we lost some games, we were never beaten. I think that’s a very key point because it shows our persistence and our inability to give up. I think the fact that we never let our record or the scores of some games trump our spirit is a key reason that we are in the position we are in,” Denger said. Denger knows that her hard work and dedication has paid off this season.

The most memorable part of her season was the win against Misericordia. Following that was a huge dogpile and complete euphoriDeSales beat the Colonels 4-1 in a game a few weeks ago. The Colonels have to play the way they have in their past two games to defeat the Bulldogs, who are the second ranked team in the conference. DeSales beat the third ranked team, King’s, to take the final spot against the Colonels.