WOMEN’S SOCCER TO FACE NO. 1 BRIDGEPORT IN ECC SEMIFINAL

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Nov. 1, 2011) – This past weekend, the Molloy College women’s soccer team earned the No. 4 seed in the East Coast Conference Championship, after sporting a 4-3 post in league play and an overall ledger of 9-8 in 2011. This marks the second-consecutive year that Molloy has qualified for the tournament in the fourth slot. On Thursday, the Lions head to Bridgeport, Conn. to face top-ranked University of Bridgeport in a 6 p.m. semifinal match-up.

In their first meeting of 2011, the Purple Knights (16-0, 7-0 ECC) were victorious over the Lions by a score of 4-1 at the Dean G. Skelos Sports Complex in Rockville Centre, N.Y. Sophomore Allison Sloper (Williston Park, N.Y.) led the Lions with their lone goal of the afternoon in the 74th-minute off an assist from junior Nicole Valentine (Massapequa, N.Y.).

The 2011 Molloy women’s soccer team is led offensively by Sloper, who has recorded 30 points on 12 goals and six assists, and Valentine, with seven goals and four assists for a total of 18 points. Eight other players have notched at least one goal as well. Defensively, freshman netminder Nicole DellaPorta (West Babylon, N.Y.) has recorded a .783 save percentage in goal, helped by the stifling play of classmates Jacqui Valentine (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Annette Mims (Patchogue, N.Y.), who have started every game on the Lions’ back line.

Molloy has the skill and capability to wreak havoc on No. 1 Bridgeport’s perfect season. In 2009, the Lions beat the then first-place Purple Knights, 3-2, in double overtime for their first loss of the season. Valentine notched a goal and assist in the win. For 2011, the maroon and white registered one of only four goals conceded by Bridgeport all season. Despite the Purple Knights’ top-ranked defense, Molloy boasts the ECC’s most prominent scorer and point-getter in Sloper. 

The winner of the Molloy-Bridgeport game will square off in the finals against the winner of the other ECC semifinal between No. 2 Dowling (12-5-1 overall, 5-1-1 ECC) and No. 3 C.W. Post (9-5-1 overall, 5-2 ECC), held on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Dowling. The championship game will be held at the highest remaining seed on Saturday (Nov. 5) at 1 p.m.

If you cannot make the trip to Bridgeport to follow the Lions in their quest for a conference championship, you can be kept up-to-date with live statistics by clicking here on game day.