Women's Soccer

Women's Soccer Wraps Up Successful 2006 Season

November 17, 2006

WATERBURY, Conn.-The 2006 Post University women's soccer team exceeded expectations, by producing one of the more memorable seasons in the annals of the program. The Eagles, under second-year Head Coach Matt Micros, were picked eighth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Preseason Coaches Poll, and finished the season with an 11-8-4 overall record and a 7-2-1 mark in the CACC.

It was a record-setting season for the Eagles; as they made their first-ever appearance in the ECAC Division II Women's Soccer Championships, while reaching the semifinals of the CACC for the first time since the program and the conference went NCAA Division II in 1999, tying the school-record for wins in a season with 11, breaking the school-record for CACC wins with season, and recording the most points in school-history with 37.

With as many as seven freshmen in the starting lineup, and no seniors on the roster, the Eagles lacked experience, but made up for it with hard work and commitment, especially in their own end, as they finished the season with 11 shutouts, including nine at LaMoy Field. The Eagles finished the season third in the conference in goals allowed with 25 (1.03 per game), and held teams to 11.7 shots a contest.

The Eagles defensive unit was anchored by a pair of freshmen goalkeepers, Karalee Desrosiers (Granby, Mass./Granby), and Brittany Carroll (Plainville, Conn./Plainville). Desrosiers is currently 23^rd in the Nation in save percentage with a .849 rating. She had a 1.04 goals against average in 1206:10 minutes and stopped 79 shots on the season. She also earned a spot on the second-team All-CACC squad. Carroll finished the season with a 1.01 goals against average and a .820 save percentage in 976:21 minutes of action this season. She stopped 50 shots and allowed only 11 goals.

However, Desrosiers and Carroll relied on their backs sophomore second-team All-CACC selection Kendra Kelly (New Milford, Conn./New Milford), sophomore Samantha DelRegno (Middlebury, Conn./Pomperaug), sophomore Jackie Sutton (Dryden, N.Y./Tompkins-Cortland C.C.), and freshman Tiffany Neuendorf (Norwich, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) to help keep opponents off the scoreboard.

The Eagles had some quality victories and impressive performances this season, including knocking off CACC Regular and Tournament Champion, Philadelphia University 1-0 on October 14, and tying Nationally ranked UMass.-Lowell 0-0 on August 31.

Offensively, the Eagles had several players step up and make solid contributions, throughout the season. Freshman Kelli Veras (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) was named the CACC Rookie of the Year, after leading the team in scoring with seven goals and 11 assists for 25 points. She also garnered first-team All-CACC honors, and is currently 17^th in the NCAA in assists per game.

Junior Maria Krug (Norwich, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) garnered CACC kudos for the second consecutive season, this time landing on the first-team All-CACC squad. She finished second on the team in points with 21, and led the team with nine goals.

Freshman Kaitlyn Delaney (Springfield, Mass./Sabbis) was third on the team in points, finishing her rookie season with eight goals and four assists for 20 points. Junior Shannon Firetto (Vernon, Conn./Rockville), who missed most of last season with an injury returned to finish fourth on the team in points with 11 (3 goals, 5 assists), and garnered a spot on the CACC All-Tournament team, after posting the game-wining goal in the quarterfinals against Dominican.

Freshman Estefania Escobar (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck), and classmate Juli Persico (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) helped contribute to the Eagle success on both ends of the field. Both had game winning goals this season, as Escobar finished the season with a goal and an assist, as a midfielder, and Persico tallied a goal and two assists.

Post found the back of the net 32 times this season, as eight different players scored goals, and 11 players tallied points, throughout the course of the season. It was the most goals scored by a team since the 2002 team that scored 34.

After opening the season with a pair of losses to region powerhouses, New Haven (0-3) and Bridgeport (0-2) at the Connecticut Cup, the Eagles played UMass.-Lowell, to a scoreless tie in the first game at LaMoy Field in the season. Post finished the year 7-1-3 at home.

Following the tie against the River Hawks the Eagles posted impressive offensive showings against St. Thomas Aquinas (6-2), and Bloomfield (7-0), before dropping a late decision to Division I Delaware State, 1-0.

Another late 1-0, loss to Southern Connecticut State, tripped up the Eagles, but they were able to rebound to defeat Nyack 4-1 on the road. They followed it up with another CACC road victory, at Dominican, 2-1, on September 19.

The Eagles fell on the road to Georgian Court, 2-1, the Eagles then went unbeaten in their next four matches defeating Mercy (1-0), tying American International (0-0), defeating Goldey-Beacom (1-0), and winning 3-2 in double-overtime against Felician.

The streak would come to an end with a hiccup against Holy Family, on October 7, but the Eagles would finish the regular season with a 1-0 win against Philadelphia, a tie against Caldwell, and a 1-0 win against Wilmington to finish fourth in the CACC.

In the CACC quarterfinals, Post used a goal and an assist from Firetto and Delaney, to reach the semifinals of the CACC since the school and conference went to NCAA Division II.

Although, in the semifinals, the Eagles run to a conference championship came to an end, with a 3-1 loss to Philadelphia. Krug had the Eagles lone goal off a penalty shot in the second half.

However, the loss to Philadelphia did not end the season for the Eagles, as Post was selected to participate in the ECAC Tournament, and host, as top-seed Bridgeport's field was unavailable to play. In the opening round of the tournament, Post defeated St. Vincent College (PA) 2-0, thanks to a pair of goals from Veras.

In the semifinals, the Eagles were edge by eventual champion Bridgeport, 1-0, and in the third place match, which was played almost entirely in a driving rain, played Georgian Court to a 0-0 tie.

Also in addition to the highlights on the field, the Eagles started a new team tradition that will carry on, dedicating a game ball to a selected individual before each game. "The idea behind it was that is you are dedication a game to someone, win or lose, you need to make certain you are giving your best possible effort," Micros stated.

Dedications ranged from goalkeeper Morgan Luchenat (Thomaston, Conn./Thomaston) who missed the season with an injury, to Micros' parents, whose father has been recovering from heart surgery; to legendary Post University men's golf Head Coach Pete Stevens, who is serving in the military in Iraq.

The future looks bright for the Eagles, as Micros returns all 19 players from this year's team, including tri-captains Krug, Firetto, and junior defender Allison Williams (Montgomery, N.Y./Valley Central).