ERIE, Pa. (Nov. 6, 2015) – The Edinboro University women's soccer team will make their first-ever appearance in the PSAC Championship game on Sunday, November 8. Head coach Gary Kagiavas' Fighting Scots, behind a pair of goals from Alex Brown, upset top-seed and fifth-ranked Gannon, 3-1, at windswept McConnell Family Stadium in Friday's semifinals. The victory boosted Edinboro to 14-6-0 while the Lady Knights lost for just the second time while falling to 18-2-0.

Edinboro will meet defending champion East Stroudsburg in Sunday's championship game in a matchup of the two lowest seeds to reach the semifinals. The Warriors, seeded seventh, upset third-seeded Slippery Rock, 2-0, in Friday's first semifinal.
 

An elated Kagiavas realized that Friday's semifinal win, coming after three previous losses in the semifinals, was a long time coming. "Twenty years. We're finally in our first one," noted the only women's soccer coach in Edinboro history.  "The leadership is what it is. Jansen (Hartmann), Reilee (DuPratt), Kayla (Briggs), Shannon (Regan), and the others. They do the work to get us where we are. The leadership is the difference.

"Midway through this season we had a team meeting," he pointed, expressing frustration with the team to that point.  "I was ready to tell them I was not going to do scouting reports or anything anymore. Right then they made the commitment.  They bought into it at that time."

Gannon defeated Edinboro, 4-0, in the regular season meeting between the two. While the wind was once again howling from one end of the field to the other, this time
Edinboro had the wind in the first half.

The Fighting Scots were able to take advantage with Brown's goal at 23:42. Minutes earlier they gained a huge advantage when Gannon's Becca Albert received a red card in the 18th minute, forcing the Lady Knights to play a man down the rest of the way.

Gannon had the first true opportunity to score when a long blast from the right side hit the right post. Edinboro kept the pressure on Gannon goalkeeper Shannon Differ and finally broke through when Brown took a beautiful feed between two defenders from Jansen Hartmann and fired a shot from 20 yards out past Differ.
The Scots would have several more chances as the half went on, but could not find the back of the net. With 13 minutes remaining, Jessica Sandhas hit a hard shot that Differ was able to gather in. With just over eight minutes left in the half, Brown dribbled into the right side of the box and sent a crossing pass in front of the net. Allison Oathout barely missed heading it in to the left corner.

Gannon had the wind in the second half, and while the Lady Knights were able to score once with the wind, Edinboro notched two goals going into it as Gannon was forced to push up playing from behind.

The Lady Knights forced the action early in the second half. Just less than ten minutes into the half, Gannon nearly scored off a corner kick, with a wild scramble ensuing in front of the net and one shot blocked by an Edinboro defender. The Scots were finally able to clear the ball.

Less than two minutes later, a turnover in the Edinboro end led to a shot from Gannon's Sammy Valloud from 25 yards out, but Sarah Baskey came up with the save.
Hartmann gave Edinboro a 2-0 lead at 60:55 She dribbled past a Gannon defender on the far right side, and with an almost impossible angle, her shot deflected off Differ and squeezed into the corner of the goal. It was Hartmann's 12th goal of the season.
 

The goal put Hartmann into a tie for fourth in season goals and was her 26th career goal. In addition, with a goal and an assists the senior midfielder now 73 career points, moving into seventh place all-time.

Edinboro had an excellent opportunity to go up by three goals three minutes later on a Brown breakaway, but Differ denied her.
The two teams traded several more scoring chances. Baskey rose high to save Valloud's shot from the left side in the 68th minute, and the sophomore then had to knock a ball away in a crowd off a Gannon corner kick in the 71st minute.

Brown had another breakaway attempt in the 72nd minute, with Differ again equal to the challenge. Back came Gannon, with a free kick deflected by Baskey. It rebounded to Valloud but she was unable to redirect it into the net, hitting a shot high and wide.

Finally, Gannon's pressure paid off as the Fighting Scots turned the ball over in their end.  Ally Sharpe scored to make it 2-1 at 74:29, with Kaitlyn Kissell and Mani Brueckner assisting.

Edinboro had two more opportunities to score, and while Differ made an outstanding play at the top of the box on a breakaway by Ashley Mutkus with 13 minutes to play, the Scots second chance found the back of the net.

Brown did the honors again, as the junior forward scored her seventh goal of the season and third of the PSAC playoffs at 80:15. Again it came on a breakaway for the Scots, as she converted on a two-on-one, with Mutkus on her left. He shot went past a diving Differ into the upper left corner for a 3-1 lead.

Edinboro without a barrage of Gannon shots in the second half after holding 10-6 advantage at the half. The Lady Knights fired 17 shots to Edinboro's six, for a 23-16 advantage in the game. Baskey recorded 11 save while picking up her 12th win in goal. That ties her for the school record with Meghan Kelly, who won 12 games in 2012 and '13.       

The Fighting Scots will now try to pick up their first PSAC title while facing an East Stroudsburg team that they beat 2-1 on October 24.
"East Stroudsburg is hot just like us," Kagiavas pointed out. "We just played them a couple weeks ago and I was uncomfortable the whole game. I think we can beat them again, but they are good and have a couple special players. I think we have an advantage in that it is almost a home game and we can sleep in our own beds."