By DAVID MEISTER
Sports Editor
The women’s soccer team began their NE-10 Tournament run last Tuesday in a quarterfinal match against the Saint Anselm Hawks and won in a big way, 5-0. Senior Julianne Johnston finished the night with a hat trick and juniors Caitlyn Debagian and Nina Predanic finished with one goal apiece. The Golden Knights also manufactured a 17-10 shot advantage for the match as well.
They then headed into the semifinals against the Franklin Pierce Ravens but lost a heartbreaker, 6-5 in overtime. Saint Rose fought valiantly as they were down 5-3 with 20 minutes left in the game before junior Morgan Burchhardt scored one in the 79th minute to put them within one and then Predanic landed the equalizer two minutes later. It was off to overtime to see who would advance to the conference championship game and the Ravens struck three minutes into the extra session to propel them on to the finals.
While the Golden Knights may be out of the NE-10’s, there is still a chance they may qualify for the NCAA Tournament, bids for that will be announced soon.
The women’s volleyball team wrapped up their 2018 season with their final two games of the season at home last Friday and Saturday.
First up was the Southern New Hampshire Penmen on Fan Appreciation Night but they could not win it, falling three sets to one, (21-25, 25-21, 20-25, 23-25). Despite the loss, three Golden Knights finished with double digit kill totals: junior Stevie Schweitzer had 12 kills, while senior Shayna Webber and sophomore Kyla Archie had 11 kills each.
Saturday’s match against Franklin Pierce was Senior Day where Webber, Sam Kubik, and Grace Campbell were all recognized prior to the match for their accomplishments throughout their Saint Rose career. The Golden Knights sent their seniors off with a three sets to nothing sweep of the Ravens, (25-22, 25-15, 25-23). Webber led all members with 14 kills on the day. Kubik had 39 assists on the day, putting her second all-time in assists with 2,757.
The team finish the regular season 17-11 and have punched their ticket to the NE-10 Conference Tournament where they will play a quarterfinal match on the road against the Adelphi Panthers.
Looking ahead later in the week, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will begin their 2018-19 seasons. The women tip off on on Friday against the Daemen Wildcats in the Roberts Wesleyan Tournament in Rochester at 6 p.m. The men’s team will be home on Saturday against the Georgian Court Lions for the Saint Rose Tip-Off Tournament at 4 p.m.
