George Washington University Athletics
GW Women's Soccer Set for 2014 A-10 Championship
11/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
WHO: GW Women's Soccer
WHAT: 2014 Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship | Championship Central | Bracket
WHERE: Baujan Field - Dayton, Ohio | Ticket Information | Directions
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 6 through Sunday, Nov. 9
HOW TO FOLLOW: Watch live | Follow live stats | @GWWomensSoccer on Twitter & Instagram | Facebook | A-10 Mobile App
DAYTON, Ohio - The George Washington women's soccer team heads to Dayton, Ohio this week for the 2014 Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship, held from Thursday, Nov. 6 through Sunday, Nov. 9 at the Flyers' Baujan Field.
GW (11-5-1, 4-3-1 A-10) tied with Rhode Island (12-4-2, 4-3-1 A-10) in the A-10 regular-season standings with 13 points, but the Colonials earned the higher seed over the Rams in a tiebreaker, defeating common opponents Davidson, Massachusetts and Richmond. GW secured the fourth seed in the championship and will face fifth-seeded Rhode Island on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
The Colonials enter their second straight A-10 Championship with an overall record of 11-5-1, marking their first 11-win season since 2003. GW has also earned a conference championship bid in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1997-98.
One day prior to the tournament a quintet of Colonials were named to All-Conference Postseasons teams, as sophomore MacKenzie Cowley, junior Kristi Abbate and senior Alex Brothers all earned a spot on the Second Team and freshman Brittany Cooper and redshirt freshman Miranda Horn were tabbed to the All-Rookie Team. The five postseason accolades are the most for the Buff and Blue since 2002.
Cowley paces the Colonials' attack with seven goals and two assists for 16 points on the season. She netted her fourth game-winning goal in GW's 1-0 shutout of Saint Louis on Sunday to clinch a berth to the conference championship, and her four game-winners rank third in league and are tied for 45th in NCAA Division I. Abbate (3g, 4a) ranks second on the team with 10 points and redshirt junior Nicole Belfonti (3g, 1a) has added seven points.
Defensively, GW owns a conference-leading 0.81 goals-against average and has limited its opponents to just 14 goals - the fewest allowed in the A-10. The Colonials recorded their eighth shutout on Sunday, matching the 2013 team in clean sheets. Horn ranks second in the league between the posts with a 0.83 goals-against average, and her .847 save percentage is good for second in the A-10 and 39th in the country.
Rhode Island earned a berth to the conference championship with a 3-1 win over Richmond on Sunday. The Rams are led offensively by Nicole Brennan (6g, 6a) and Samantha Leyh (5g, 3a), who have recorded 18 and 13 points, respectively. Katie Nickles and Reilly Lindsey have shared time between the posts, with Nickles setting aside 49 shots and registering a 0.61 goal-against average in nine games, and Lindsey making 27 saves and allowing 10 goals in seven matches.
