2008 Woodie Awards
Women's soccer celebrates bittersweet win in PSAC title game
Team wins PSAC Championship over Kutztown, not granted NCAA playoff berth
By Matt Matusek
Rocket Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/11/05 Section: Sports
The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship at Kutztown University by a score of 1-0 Sunday afternoon.
"I couldn't be more proud of the team, they worked hard and they deserved to win," coach Noreen Herlihy said. "I thought that we came out a little nervous in the first half. But about 15 minutes before the half we really stepped it up and carried the momentum into halftime and throughout the rest of the game."
About two minutes into the second half, McGrath scored her ninth goal of the year to give the Rock a 1-0 lead.
Freshman defender Emily Lamp fed the ball to McGrath, who spun left away from two Golden Bear defenders and planted the ball in the net at the far post.
"It meant a lot to me personally because all of my family was there watching and they don't get a chance to see me play a lot," McGrath said. "And the team knew we could win it all after that."
McGrath's goal was all SRU needed as the Rock's defense once again shut down the opposition to earn its 12th shutout of the season.
"It is an amazing feeling to win the PSAC championship as a freshman," McCormick said. "Coming in I never thought I'd be able to start in net let alone win a championship in my first year."
SRU entered the game unfamiliar with Kutztown, having not played the Golden Bears since 2003.
"To come off such a huge emotional win against IUP and go two days later to KU and win on their home field took a lot of courage from our team," Herlihy said. "We didn't know what to expect from them, we just knew that we could win."
After beating Edinboro University in the first round of the playoffs 4-1, SRU traveled to IUP and avenged its season loss with a 1-0 win in the semi-finals last Friday.
Julie Lineman headed the ball in off of a corner kick by Julie Kirwan with only 2:38 left on the clock to give SRU the only goal of the game.
"Winning that game was the best feeling ever," McGrath said. "Seeing the looks on their faces after we won was great. They did it to us last year on our home field so it was payback."
"I couldn't be more proud of the team, they worked hard and they deserved to win," coach Noreen Herlihy said. "I thought that we came out a little nervous in the first half. But about 15 minutes before the half we really stepped it up and carried the momentum into halftime and throughout the rest of the game."
About two minutes into the second half, McGrath scored her ninth goal of the year to give the Rock a 1-0 lead.
Freshman defender Emily Lamp fed the ball to McGrath, who spun left away from two Golden Bear defenders and planted the ball in the net at the far post.
"It meant a lot to me personally because all of my family was there watching and they don't get a chance to see me play a lot," McGrath said. "And the team knew we could win it all after that."
McGrath's goal was all SRU needed as the Rock's defense once again shut down the opposition to earn its 12th shutout of the season.
"It is an amazing feeling to win the PSAC championship as a freshman," McCormick said. "Coming in I never thought I'd be able to start in net let alone win a championship in my first year."
SRU entered the game unfamiliar with Kutztown, having not played the Golden Bears since 2003.
"To come off such a huge emotional win against IUP and go two days later to KU and win on their home field took a lot of courage from our team," Herlihy said. "We didn't know what to expect from them, we just knew that we could win."
After beating Edinboro University in the first round of the playoffs 4-1, SRU traveled to IUP and avenged its season loss with a 1-0 win in the semi-finals last Friday.
Julie Lineman headed the ball in off of a corner kick by Julie Kirwan with only 2:38 left on the clock to give SRU the only goal of the game.
"Winning that game was the best feeling ever," McGrath said. "Seeing the looks on their faces after we won was great. They did it to us last year on our home field so it was payback."
