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11/7/2002 - Women's Soccer
Navy Soccer Meets American In Patriot League Women’s Soccer Semis

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The first step in the Mids’ quest to earn their first NCAA Tournament bid in the program’s history will take place Friday when Navy meets American in the semifinals of the Patriot League Women’s Soccer Tournament. The second-seeded Midshipmen clash with the third-seeded Eagles at 5 p.m. on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. Game time is set for 5 p.m. The second game of the night will pit the host, Army (12-2-2/5-1-1), against fourth-seeded Colgate (6-8-2/4-2-1) at 7:30 p.m. The winners of the two games will battle for the automatic NCAA Tournament bid and 2002 Patriot League Tournament title Sunday at 1 p.m.

“Our goal from the beginning of the season was to win the Patriot League and earn a bid to play in the NCAA Tournament,” said Navy head coach Carin Gabarra. “That time is now. Everything we’ve done throughout the season has helped prepare us for this weekend and we are looking forward to playing American in the first round. They are a skilled team and we will have to put together a strong game plan and execute it to be successful.”

The Mids enter Friday night’s contest against American with an undefeated 16-0-4 mark, including six-consecutive victories. The last time Navy did not win a game was Oct. 13 — a 1-1 tie against none other than the Mids’ opponent Friday evening. Navy held a 1-0 advantage in that game behind an Amelia Sheveland (Farmers Branch, Texas) goal, but the lead was erased 10 minutes later when Savannah Rennels tucked the ball past Navy keeper Kim Bonafede (Burke, Va.) to even the playing ground. Since that game, the Mids played 517:50-straight minutes without surrendering a goal before allowing a Robert Morris strike 8:26 into the last outing on a direct kick. Navy has produced five shutouts in the last six outings.

Navy’s all-league forward tandem of two-time Patriot League Offensive Player of Year Stacy Finley (Alamo, Calif.) and Sheveland has been nearly unstoppable. Both players eclipsed the Navy record for points in a season last week, with Finley now owning the record with 43 points. Not only is Finley’s point total remarkable, it’s the manner in which she has achieved the mark. She has scored a point (goal or assist) in 16 of the 20 games this fall, keeping in mind two of the four in which she did not score ended in a 0-0 tie. She has produced at least one goal in eight of the last-nine outings, including six-straight games.

Sheveland finished the regular season as the Mids’ second-leading scorer with an impressive 39 points on 15 goals and nine assists. Her 39 points tied the previous school scoring record, as she sits tied for second in single-season scoring. Sheveland has had three multiple-goal games, including three hat tricks this fall.

Defensively, Navy is ranked No. 2 in the nation for its goals-against average. The Mids have given up a Navy and Patriot League-low six goals in 2002, surrendering 0.29 goals per game to the competition. The defensive unit made up of three sophomore backs, one freshman and a sophomore goalkeeper has guided the team to a school-record 15 shutouts. Bonafede leads the Mids between the pipes as the third-ranked keeper in the country behind a 0.27 GAA.

American enters Friday’s contest with an 8-8-2 overall record and a third-place league mark of 4-2-1. The Eagles are making their second-straight Patriot League Tournament appearance after joining the conference a year ago. The Eagles are led by First-Team All-Patriot League forward Savannah Rennels. Rennels has produced 29 points on a team-high 13 goals and three assists. Complementing Rennels goal-scoring efforts is Simone Konig, who owns a team-high 12 assists and two goals for 16 points. Anabel Jimenez is American’s second leading scorer with 21 points on nine goals and three assists, posting three game winners this fall. In goal is Second-Team All-League sophomore Jen Liese. Liese owns a 1.84 GAA, giving up 24 goals in 1172 minutes of action.

The Mids lead the series, 4-1-1, however, the last Navy win was a 4-0 nonconference victory in 1998. In last year’s inaugural conference meeting against American, Navy dropped a 1-0 decision to the Eagles in Annapolis, while this year’s battle ended deadlocked at one apiece.

Patriot League Tournament Schedule

Friday — Semifinals

No. 2 Navy vs. No. 3 American 5 p.m.

No. 1 Army vs. No. 4 Colgate 7:30 p.m.

Sunday — Championship Game

Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 1 p.m.

Navy-American Series History

Navy leads, 4-1-1

O13, 2002 T, 1-1 Washington, D.C.

S19, 2001 L, 1-0 Annapolis, Md.

S8, 1998 W, 4-0 Annapolis, Md.

O20, 1997 W, 2-0 Washington, D.C.

S13, 1995 W, 3-1 Annapolis, Md.

S7, 1994 W, 2-1 Washington, D.C.

G-o N-a-v-y