GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg College and Haverford College will square off in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Women's Soccer Championship for the second consecutive season on Friday, Nov. 8.
The Bullets meet Haverford (10-2-5, 7-0-3 CC) in Friday's second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. at Johns Hopkins University's Homewood Field. The host and top-seeded Blue Jays (16-1-1, 9-0-1 CC) will take on the winner of the first-round contest between McDaniel College (13-5, 6-4 CC) and Muhlenberg College (7-10-1, 5-5 CC) in Friday's first semi at 5 p.m. Saturday's championship is set for 5:30 p.m.
Gettysburg (12-2-3, 7-2-1 CC) has dropped its last two meetings with Haverford. The Fords eliminated the Bullets from the playoffs last year with a 1-0 decision. Haverford also won this fall's regular-season meeting 2-1 in double overtime. The Fords join Johns Hopkins as the only teams to score more than one goal against Gettysburg this season.
"We have a chip on our shoulder," said Head Coach
Matt Garrett, who is 70-45-12 in seven seasons at Gettysburg. "They're the team that stopped us last year from getting where we wanted to go and they're trying to stop us this year from winning the conference and getting to the national tournament."
After beating Gettysburg in the 2012 playoffs, Haverford ended Johns Hopkins' seven-year reign in the conference with a 2-1 victory over the Blue Jays.
The Bullets finished with a dozen victories for the fourth consecutive season. The team set a new program standard with a dozen shutouts and it currently leads the conference in goals against average at 0.48.
Gettysburg is seeking its first conference title and national postseason bid since 2004. To accomplish those goals, the Bullets will have to turn in a complete effort for 90 minutes or more according to the head coach.
"We just need to perform better on the day," said Garrett. "We're not going to have 20-30 shots like we do most games so we need to take advantage of the opportunities we get and limit their opportunities. We have to outplay them for the whole game."