Fighting Scots Close Out Regular Season, Look to Clinch Home Playoff Game vs. Seton Hill

GAMEDAY CENTRAL – Seton Hill at Edinboro

Date: Saturday, November 9, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Site: Sox Harrison Stadium, Edinboro, Pa.
Records: Edinboro 9-5-3, 9-3-3 PSAC West I Seton Hill 6-11-0, 6-9-0 PSAC West
Edinboro Links:  Roster I Schedule I Stats
Seton Hill Links:  Roster I Schedule I Stats
Live Stats:  Click Here

AROUND THE LEAGUE

PSAC Scoreboard: Click Here
PSAC Standings: Click Here
PSAC Statistics: Click Here

SERIES HISTORY

All-Time Series: Edinboro leads 7-2-0
Last Meeting: October 9, 2019: Edinboro 2, Seton Hill 0
How It Happened: Danielle Chatten scored a pair of second-half goals to lead Edinboro to a 2-0 win at Seton Hill. The two teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first half, with Edinboro holding a slight 10-8 advantage in shots. That would change over the final 45 minutes, as the Fighting Scots dominated play with 15 shots to just a pair for the Griffins. Chatten gave the Fighting Scots a 1-0 lead at 49:29 with her first goal. Just over thirteen minutes later at 62:58, she boosted the lead to 2-0 off a pass from Rebecca Manns. Edinboro would hold a 25-10 advantage in shots, along with five corner kicks to two for Seton Hill. Sophomore goalkeeper Anna Voelker finished with seven saves while Seton Hill's Elyza Pilatowski-Herzing totaled 11 saves.

MATCH STORYLINES

The final day of the PSAC regular season has arrived, with first round PSAC Tournament games scheduled for Tuesday, November 12. Edinboro has clinched a berth in the 2019 PSAC Tournament, the first postseason berth since 2016. It has also been determined that Edinboro will face Mercyhurst in that quarterfinal contest. Now the goal for the Fighting Scots to host that game against their local rival. Clinching second place in the division has been a bit more difficult to attain. After going 9-0-3 during a 12-game stretch, the best in school history, Edinboro now looks to snap a three-game losing streak, with all being heartbreaking defeats. The stretch began with a 1-0 loss at Gannon, 1-0, on a goal in the 83^rd minute and after having an apparent goal disallowed early in the second half. Last Saturday, the Fighting Scots jumped out to a 2-0 lead at Slippery Rock. The match turned on a red card in the 71^st minute. SRU would cut the lead in half on a penalty kick and Edinboro was forced to play a player down the rest of the match. SRU tied the match less than two minutes later, and scored the game-winner with exactly a minute remaining in the contest. Then on Wednesday, Edinboro dropped a back-and-forth contest at Pitt-Johnstown when the Mountain Cats scored the winning goal with 52 seconds remaining.
Slippery Rock has clinched first place in the PSAC West with 39 points. Edinboro is second with 30 points and needs a win or tie vs. Seton Hill, or a Mercyhurst loss, to secure a home playoff game. Mercyhurst has closed to within 28 points and can claim the second spot withan Edinboro loss and a win at Cal U. Indiana(Pa.) (24) and Gannon (23) are still in the hunt for the last playoff spot in the Western Division. The Eastern Division playoff field is set with Bloomsburg, Millersville, East Stroudsburg and West Chester all clinching spots, although seeding has yet to be determined.
Edinboro was picked to finish sixth in the PSAC coaches' preseason poll and comes in with a 9-5-3 overall record and 9-3-3 in the PSAC West. The Fighting Scots are looking for a 10^th win for the 13th time under head coach Gary Kagiavas. Seton Hill is 6-11-0 and 6-9-0, respectively.
Edinboro remained sixth in the second NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings released earlier this week, and is seventh in the United Soccer Coaches regional poll.
Ten different players have scored goals for Edinboro. Danielle Chatten comes off a huge effort at Pitt-Johnstown, scoring all three of Edinboro's goals to give her 9 goals and 5 assists for 23 points. The senior forward has moved into 10^th place in career goals with 26 goals, along with ranking 11^th in career points (67) and tied for sixth in career assists (15). Brittnie Spithaler, a sophomore forward, adds 5 goals and 5 assists for 15 points. Rebecca Manns has 4 goals and 6 assists, and is fifth in career assists with 17.
Sophomore Anna Voelker has been in goal for every minute and has a 1.05 GAA, good for sixth in the PSAC, with 6 shutouts, which is tied for fourth in the PSAC. She saw a streak of 371-plus minutes without allowing a goal come to an end at IUP. Voelker's 6 shutouts is tied for third in a season, and her 9 career shutouts is sixth.
Edinboro posted a 6-11-0 finish a year ago while fielding a young squad. Kagiavas has a 227-182-40 record, all as Edinboro's only head coach. The Fighting Scots have qualified for the PSAC Playoffs 12 times, with eight of those in the last ten years. Entering the season, Kagiavas ranked 24^th among active Division II coaches in victories. In addition, he ranks second in wins among PSAC women's soccer coaches, exceeded only by West Chester's Betsy Anne Kempf-Townsley with 332 wins. He has been selected the PSAC Coach of the Year three times (2001, '05, '07).
Seton Hill was in the thick of the PSAC playoff hunt a couple weeks ago, but the Griffins come into Sox Harrison Stadium riding a four-match losing streak. That has dropped their record to 6-11-0 overall and 6-9-0 in the PSAC West. They have scored just one goal during that stretch. On Wednesday, Seton Hill suffered a 2-0 loss to Cal U.

UP NEXT

Edinboro will play a first round PSAC Tournament game on Tuesday, November 12 against Mercyhurst. One will be the two seed and host the contest, and the other the number three seed, depending on Saturday's results.
The Fighting Scots won the first meeting with Mercyhurst at Sox Harrison Stadium by a 2-1 score, with the two teams play to a 0-0 tie in two overtimes at Mercyhurst.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Danielle Chatten: F; 5' 7"; Senior

#13 Rebecca Manns: F; 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior

#26 Brittnie Spithaler: F; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#1 Anna Voelker: GK; 5' 4"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#10 Danielle Chatten
: 5' 7"; Senior
: F

#13 Rebecca Manns
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#26 Brittnie Spithaler
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: F

#1 Anna Voelker
: 5' 4"; Sophomore
: GK