Waterbury, Conn. – The Post University Eagles scored four goals in the second half to win a wild 5-4 match against No. 1 seed Merrimack in the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference on Friday afternoon at LaMoy Field. The Warriors entered the game ranked fifth in the East Region in the final regular season NSCAA Poll. The win was the first-ever for the women's soccer team against a Northeast-10 opponent.
The fourth seeded Eagles will now take on No. 3 Mercy for the title on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Merrimack took a 1-0 lead in the 15
th minute as Jenna Savi took a pass from Mia Reed and put it past senior goalkeeper
Laura Morgan (Brush Prairie, Wash.). In the 42
nd minute, however, the Eagles would respond with a goal from junior
Sylvia Yanez (West Haven, Conn.). It was her fifth goal of the season.
Merrimack started the crazy second half with a goal from Heather Hastbacka on a header off of a corner from Savi go give the Warriors a 2-1 lead in the 55
th minute. Two minutes later, sophomore
Katharina Mertz (Buxtehude, Germany), put home a penalty kick after a foul inside the box. It was the tenth goal of the season for the All-CACC second team member.
The Warriors would take the lead for the third time in the game less than one minute later as Savi put home her second goal of the game on a pass from Andrea Rego, giving them a 3-2 lead. Post responded in the 60
th minute on sophomore
Angela Ciaramella's (Hamden, Conn.) third goal of the season on a set piece. Freshman
Alex Moeller and Mertz were credited with the assists.
After battling back three times to tie the game, the Eagles finally were able to take the lead in the 68
th minute on a goal from the top of the box from sophomore
Sam Rodriguez on a pass from Yanez. It was the third goal of the season for Rodriguez. Rodriguez wasn't done as she added a second goal in the 79
th minute as she made a move on a defender to beat Merrimack goalkeeper, Megham Gulbrandsen.
Savi would tack on her third goal for a hat trick in the 89
th minute on a header off of a cross from Dierdre Roberts for the final goal of the game.
"The girls played terrific today," coach
Matt Micros said. "
Sam Rodriguez and
Sylvia Yanez were excellent. It was truly a fun game to watch. Definitely unexpected to see that many goals from two teams that are strong defensively. Merrimack is such an excellent program with a legendary coach. NE-10 semifinalist and fifth in the East Region. I'm really happy for our seniors to get to play another game.