Boxscore
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (11/04/2005)—Army junior Ronee Farrell took a pass from junior Silvia Longo on the left wing and drove a shot into the left upper ninety to give the No. 3 seed Black Knights a 1-0 win over No.2 seed Colgate University in the Patriot League Women’s Soccer Tournament semifinal at Lehigh University. Army (12-5-1) advances to the championship game on Nov. 6, against No. 4 seed Bucknell University who upended top-seeded Lehigh in a penalty kick shootout earlier in the evening.
Colgate (12-5-1) controlled the run of play throughout much of the first half, but was unable to connect. Junior Carolyn Warhaftig (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) nearly put the Raiders up 1-0 in the 14th minute, getting in behind the Black Knight defense, but her shot sailed just right of net. It was Warhaftig striking again seven minutes later when her header off a Marisa Akason (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) corner kick hit the left post and was cleared away by the Army defense.
The Army defense stayed strong for the remaining 25 minutes of the stanza as both squads went into the break knotted at zero. Colgate outshot the Black Knights 5-3 and won six corner kicks to the Black Knights’ one in the opening half.
The second session proved to be much of the same as Colgate’s early scoring chances were stymied by the Black Knights. Warhaftig continued to give the Army backline fits in the air, hitting the crossbar with a header off another Akason corner kick at the 50:40 mark. Junior Jackie Burch (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton) collected the rebound and fired a shot on net, but Army goalie Rebecca Garcia corralled the ball to keep the game scoreless.
Nearly eight minutes later Farrell broke lose for Army down the left flank. Longo found a an open Farrell, who collected the pass on the left corner of the 18-yard box and lifted it over Colgate keeper Luisa Miller (Washington, D.C./National Cathedral) into the left upper ninety for the 1-0 lead at the 58:41 mark.
The Black Knights nearly made it 2-0 at the 80:11 mark when Pia White’s shot hit the woodwork and the Colgate defense cleared the ball out of danger. Sophomore Franny Iacuzzi (Evanston, Ill./Evanston) got free in the penalty box on a counter attack, but her shot of the slotted ball was blocked wide by an Army defender, giving Colgate its 10th corner of the game.
The Black Knights’ defense stayed strong in the closing minutes as the Raiders continued to create scoring opportunities.
Colgate held a 17-11 advantage in shots and won the corner kick battle 10-6. Miller made five stops for the Raiders, while Garcia had six saves for Army.
Colgate captured a share of the Patriot League regular season title for the second consecutive season, finishing the year with a 12-5-1 overall record.
