The seventh seeded Suffolk University Women's Soccer team will travel to Providence, RI on Saturday to take on second seed Johnson & Wales University to start the 2011 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament.
The Rams enter the eight-team single elimination tournament as winners of seven of their last nine contests to finish the year with a 9-7-1 overall mark and a 7-5-1 conference mark for a total of 22 points. They'll be taking on a Wildcats team who won 11 of 19 matches on the year and finished the GNAC regular with 29 points on a 9-2-2 league record.
Much of the focus on Saturday will be on senior Leslie Hayden (Ross, Calif.), who once again put on an offensive display as she currently stands ninth in the nation among all NCAA Division-III Women's Soccer players with a 1.267 goals per game average, scoring 20 times in 17 games, while her 46 points gives her a 2.93 points per game average which ranks as the 10th highest total in the country. Both totals are the best in the conference among scorers. During this past Tuesday's 2-1 loss against Gordon College, Hayden registered her 20th goal of the season, the second time in her four-year career she reached the feat which was also her 71st career goal. The goal moved Hayden into a tie for the All-Time Career Points Total in GNAC history at 171. A record she now shares with former Wildcat Patrice Merendina who compiled that same number during her career spanning from 1999-2002. Hayden's accomplishments have somewhat overshadowed the strong play down the stretch of freshman goalkeeper Melissa Brouillette (Shelton, Conn.). Brouillette was named ECAC Defensive Player of the Week on October 18 as she did not allow a goal over seven games, a span that lasted 617 minutes. Also helping with the scoring punch has been sophomore Gabrielle Balestrier (Mohnton, Pa.) who was last season's GNAC Rookie of the Year. After a slow start to 2011, Balestrier has come on of late scoring five goals over the Rams' final four GNAC contests including two in a must-win victory over Emerson College over the weekend. Senior Lauren Cameron (Kingston, Jamaica) has given the Rams some depth up front as she has tallied eight goals as a reserve, a total that is ninth best among scorers this season in the GNAC. Sophomores Meghan McHale (Halifax, Mass.) and Monica Wolf (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) have also done their part as midfielders. Wolf has been busy as her 69 shots on the year are the fourth most in the league. McHale's strong leg has scored three times for Suffolk during 2011. The Rams offense currently ranks 18th in the country as they have been scoring at a 3.4 goals per game clip.
The Rams will face a challenge with Johnson & Wales who have several players who can score. Senior Samantha Reynolds (Plymouth, Mass.) has been tormenting GNAC defenses during her four year career as she scored 39 times against league opponents during that span. This season she has scored six goals bringing her career total to 52. Senior Katlyn Gerrish (North Stonington, Conn.) has been the leading scorer for the Wildcats with a total of 22 points, while her eight assists are tops in the league. Freshman Kayla Sypek (Westhampton, Mass.) leads the team with eight goals.
Gerrish and Reynolds both scored in JWU's 2-1 defeat of Suffolk back on September 17, the first time these two teams met this season. Hayden scored the Rams' lone goal in that contest.
There will be four games on Saturday as the eight-team single elimination tournament will run through Saturday November 5. The winner earns an automatic qualifying bid into the 2011 NCAA Division-III Tournament.
Saturday's lineup for games is as follows:
Quarter Finals- Saturday, October 29th, 2011
Game 1: #8 Saint Joseph's Maine @ #1 Lasell – 1:00pm
Game 2: #5 St. Joseph (Conn.) @ #4 Norwich – 1:00pm
Game 3: #6 Simmons @ #3 Albertus – 1:00pm
Game 4: #7 Suffolk @ #2 JWU – 1:00pm