ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Junior
Grace Slevin (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) scored the game-winning goal with 49 seconds remaining, and the Gettysburg College women's soccer team captured a 2-1 playoff-clinching victory at Muhlenberg College in Centennial Conference (CC) action Saturday afternoon at Varsity Field.
Final Result
| Teams |
1st |
2nd |
F |
| Gettysburg (11-3-2, 5-3-2) |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Muhlenberg (3-13-1, 1-9) |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Top Performers - Gettysburg
Grace Slevin '23 (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) – 2 Goals
Emma Bedell '22 (Chatham, N.J./Mount Saint Mary) – 2 Assists
Claudia Mischler '23 (Allendale, N.J. Northern Highlands Regional) - Assist
Maddie Cunningham '22 (Mount Airy, Md./Linganore) – 2 Saves
Top Performers – Muhlenberg
Noemi Di Cori - Goal
Sara Pecorelli – 7 Saves
How it Happened
First Half: Gettysburg's leading scorer
Erika Muskus (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains Fanwood) and Mischler each fired a shot on goal at the 20th and 27th-minute markers, but Sara Pecorelli made both stops. A Gettysburg foul in the penalty box put Muhlenberg in a position to take the lead with 28:42 on the clock. Noemi Di Cori, the leading scorer for the Mules, drilled the shot into the lower right corner to give her team a 1-0 advantage. The Mules held the 1-0 lead at halftime despite the Bullets' four shot attempts in the last 13 minutes.
Second Half: The Bullets came out feisty on the offensive end in the second half, outshooting the Mules 13-5. Bedell took the first shot on goal six minutes into the half, but Pecorelli made the save. Roughly, ten minutes later, Bedell would be a part of the Bullets' first goal. She dribbled the ball from the left side of the field and drilled a shot inside the box that headed towards the lower left side of the net, and Slevin was there to finish it off to tie the game at 1-1. Cunningham came up with a huge play in the 74th minute when she dived to stop a penalty kick from going into the back of the net to keep it a tied match. Gettysburg was not about to go down without a fight as they pounded four shots with under five minutes remaining. Their hard work paid off with 49 seconds left in regulation. Mischler threw in the ball to Bedell, Bedell one-touched it inside the box and sent it to Slevin, who immediately kicked it into the back of the net for the game-winning goal.
Centennial Conference Playoffs
With the win, Gettysburg secured the fourth seed in the Centennial Conference championship tournament and will host Franklin & Marshall College in the first-round match on Tuesday at a time to be announced. The winner will take on top-seeded Johns Hopkins University in Friday's semifinals.
By the Numbers
- Gettysburg finished with the 21-10 advantage in shots and the 3-1 edge in corner kicks.
- Slevin netted her first two-goal performance of her career. She has seven points (three goals, one assist) on the season.
- Bedell has accrued two points in two of the last four games. This marked the first two-assist game of the season. She is second behind Muskus in points with 15 (five goals, five assists).
- Under the direction of head coach Matt Garrett, Gettysburg has competed in the postseason in ten of the last 11 playing campaigns.
- The Orange and Blue rank fifth in the NCAA Division III Region V Regional poll.
- Gettysburg earned receiving votes in the latest D3Soccer.com Top 25 national poll.
All-Time Series
Gettysburg holds the all-time series record at 21-7-4. The last two meetings against the Bullets and Mules ended in a 1-1 draw.
Up Next
Gettysburg will welcome Franklin & Marshall College in the opening round of the conference tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 2 with a time to be announced.
