COLGATE WOMEN'S SOCCER TRAVELS TO DARTMOUTH FOR FIRST ROUND OF NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE CUP 

November 8, 1999

Colgate (10-7-2, 5-1-0 Patriot League) travels to Hanover, NH for the opening round of the 1999 Division I NCAA Women’s College Cup.  The Red Raiders earned their third consecutive trip to the national tournament with a 2-0 win over the United States Naval Academy in the Patriot League Championship game on Sunday at Van Doren Field. Dartmouth (9-7-1, 3-3-1 Ivy League) won four of its final five contests and outscored opponents 27-13 this season.

Gametime is slated for Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. on Chase Field. Winner of the first round game takes on UConn in Storrs, CT this weekend. 

COLGATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Red Raiders have appeared in three consecutive NCAA tournaments. Last season, the Red Raiders hosted Syracuse in a first round game that the Orangewomen won 4-1. In 1997, Hartford blanked the Red Raiders 4-0.

COLGATE VS. DARTMOUTH: Colgate and Dartmouth have squared off three times on the soccer field. Last season, the Big Green blanked Colgate 3-0 at the UMass Tournament on Sept. 19. The two schools met for the first time in the Cornell Classic in 1993. Colgate won that match 1-0 and beat the Big Green in 1997 by the same score. 

COMMON OPPONENTS: Colgate and Dartmouth have played against six common opponents this season. The Red Raiders beat Vermont 1-0 and lost to the other five opponents. Colgate lost to Syracuse 3-0, Cornell 2-1, Columbia 1-0, Princeton 3-1, and Yale 4-0. Dartmouth blanked Vermont 1-0, lost to Syracuse 2-1, pounded Cornell 4-0, shut out Columbia 2-0, lost to Princeton 2-1 and played to a scoreless draw with Yale.

COLGATE VS. THE IVY LEAGUE: Colgate has had plenty of experience against the Ivy League this season, but not much success. TheRed Raiders went 0-4 against schools in Dartmouth’s conference. 

PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Kelly Tyrrell (West Hartford, CT/Hall) made 12 saves and Molly Ryan (Maumee, OH/St. Ursula Academy) set up both goals as Colgate blanked Navy (13-8-0) 2-0. Senior Andrea Licari (Calabasas, CA/Louisville) was named the Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player. She redirected home a cross from Ryan for Colgate’s first goal seven minutes into the contest. Ryan set up Colgate’s second goal at nearly the same time into the second half. In a scramble off a short Red Raider corner kick, Ryan pushed a pass back to freshman midfielder Lauren Erickson (North Beach, NJ/Southern Regional) where she blasted it under the crossbar for the two-goal lead. 

PATRIOT LEAGUE DOMINANCE: Colgate has owned the Patriot League in the conference’s ten-year existence. The Red Raiders have won nine out of ten conference championships, including the last five. In the history of the league only Army has bested the Red Raiders in Patriot League Championship play. Colgate boasts a 48-6-1 league mark and a 17-1-0 Patriot League Tournament record.

COLGATE HEAD COACH KATHY BRAWN: At the helm of the Red Raiders for the past nine seasons, Kathy Brawn has put the Colgate women’s soccer program on the map. Besides her stellar record at the school (119-47-13, .most wins in the history of the program), Brawn has made an impact at the national level. Brawn’s teams have combined for eight Patriot League Championships, three ECAC crowns, and three NCAA Tournament appearances. 

TYRRELL NAMED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Senior goalkeeper Kelly Tyrrell earned her third consecutive spot on the all-Patriot League team and was named the conference’s defensive player of the year. She posted a 1.55 goals against average, .852 save percentage and 10-7-2 mark this season. In Patriot League action, she allowed less than one goal per game (0.99 GAA), averaged 10.3 saves per game and posted a .912 save percentage.

FOUR NAMED ALL-PATRIOT FIRST TEAM: Andrea Licari, Mandy Palladino (Clinton, NY/Clinton), Sena Maziarz (Suffield, CT/Suffield) and Kelly Tyrrell earned spots on the all-Patriot League first team. THREE NAMED ALL-PATRIOT SECOND TEAM: Angela Puliafico (East Woodstock, CT/Woodstock Academy), Sarah Mirza (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) and Meghan Merriman (Marietta, NY/Marcellus) were named to the all-Patriot League second team.

COLGATE’S OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER: Senior striker Andrea Licari paces the Colgate offensive attack. She has scored a team-high seven goals and tallied 18 points. Sophomore Angela Puliafico has scored four goals and handed out a team-high six assists for 14 points. Junior Kellie Gale (Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell) has scored six goals and Mandy Palladino has netted a career-high five goals including three game-winning goals.

STOPPING THE BIG GREEN: Besides goalkeeper Kelly Tyrrell, Colgate boasts a strong group in the defensive back. Senior co-captain Sarah Lohr (Franklin Lakes, NJ/Ramapo), junior Sarah Mirza, sophomore Meghan Merriman, and freshman Lauren Kaufman (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) have helped Colgate to a 1.54 overall goals against average and five shutouts this season.

FOLLOW THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE CUP ONLINE: The championship bracket is available at the NCAA web sites: http://www.ncaa.org and http://www.ncaachampionships.com. 

FAX ON DEMAND INFORMATION: The championship bracket is available on fax-on-demand by dialing (770) 563-1133, entering passcode number 1915 and dialing request number 1449.