GW Women's Soccer Begins A-10 Championships on Thursday
11/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
WHO: GW Women's Soccer
WHAT: Atlantic 10 Championships | Championship Central
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 5 - Sunday, Nov. 8
WHERE: Alumni Soccer Stadium - Davidson, North Carolina | Tickets | Parking
FOLLOW: Live Video | Follow @GWWomensSoccer on Twitter
REVOLUTIONARY RIVALRY: The top-seeded Colonials will face Revolutionary Rival George Mason (8-9-1, 4-5-1 A-10), the tournament's eighth seed, on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinal round. On Oct. 25, GW grabbed a hard-fought, 1-0 (2OT) road win at Mason on junior MacKenzie Cowley's game-winner in the 107th minute.
JOURNEY TO THE TOP: Head Coach Sarah Barnes put together a challenging non-conference schedule for the Colonials this season, including contests at 2014 NCAA qualifiers Cal State Fullerton and Georgetown to give GW a first-hand look at top competition. After a loss to Delaware on Sept. 13, the Colonials began their nation-leading 13-match win streak and haven't looked back, wrapping the non-conference slate with a trio of victories before posting a 10-0-0 A-10 mark, the best in program history. On Oct. 29, the Buff and Blue clinched the program's first A-10 regular season title since 1995, earning the the top seed in the A-10 Championships.
COWLEY IN THE CLUTCH: MacKenzie Cowley is enjoying the best season of her career. The forward leads the team with a career-high 10 goals and has proven to be a top performer in the clutch, ranking fifth in the nation and leading the conference with six game-winners, four coming in A-10 play. Cowley provided the deciding goals in GW's final three regular season contests - twice in double-overtime situations.
RISE UNDER PRESSURE: For the first time in program history, the 2015 squad has won every overtime contest for a perfect, 5-0-0, mark in extra time. Four different Colonials have supplied golden goals for GW this season, displaying the team's ability to rise and execute under pressure. With three of those four being upperclassmen, Coach Barnes credits the squad's veterans with setting the tone for success.
"This is the kind of group that isn't deterred by pressure," said Coach Barnes. "They rise up when the pressure rises. Even in our last few games, with two double-overtime situations, it would be easy to get nervous, but our players have come through for us. "
DEPTH IS KEY: Eighteen different Colonials have made starts this season and nine have netted goals, creating a well-balanced attack and the strongest defense in the conference.
Cowley had a hot start to the season, scoring seven goals in the first nine games - gaining a reputation as GW's main offense threat early in the year. Opponents then began to focus on stopping Cowley, opening up other Colonials for scoring opportunities.
Freshman Sofia Pavon experienced a breakout performance on Sept. 24 at UMBC when the rookie tallied both goals in GW's 2-0 victory in the final non-conference bout of the season. Pavon then went on an offensive tear, posting four goals and three game-winners in league play to jump up to second on the team with six goals while earning A-10 Rookie of the Week honors twice.
Redshirt-senior Nicole Belfonti also took advantage of increased offensive opportunities, netting a career-high four goals and a trio of game-winners, all against conference opponents.
"What happens with goal scorers when you start the season hot like MacKenzie did, is that everyone starts to focus on stopping her," said Coach Barnes. "Teams start doing everything they can to take her scoring ability away, and the good thing that we have seen is that when people started to limit her abilities, that opened up other people for opportunities, and they have been able to step up. We're balanced that way, and I think you need that to be successful."
"It really takes the pressure off to know that that so many people on this team have the ability to score," said Cowley. "Seeing Sofia build scoring confidence in her freshman year has been great to experience, and having teammates who are able to come through when we need it has really helped us build confidence and success as a team this season."
DEFENSE REIGNS: GW enters the conference tournament with the best defense in the A-10. Of conference teams, the Colonials have allowed the fewest goals this season (15) and stellar defensive play has allowed GW to lead the league with an impressive 0.76 goals against average. The Buff and Blue sit atop the conference and rank 12th in the nation with 12 shutouts on the season, as redshirt-sophomore Miranda Horn and senior Ellen Conway have posted five and one solo shutouts in the net, respectively, while combining for the remaining six clean sheets.
Senior Brooke Stoller has logged more minutes (1601) than any other Colonial and has led the back line as classmate Emily Brown, junior Kate Elson, sophomore Annika Johnson and freshman Dani Frese have served as the primary components to GW's strong defensive efforts.
MAKING HISTORY: GW has re-written the record books in 2015, shattering program bests that had stood for decades and still approaching new milestones after claiming its first A-10 regular season title since 1995. The Colonials' 13 consecutive victories is the nation's longest active win streak and the longest in program history, leaving the previous mark of eight (1998) far behind. The Buff and Blue recorded the first undefeated, untied, Atlantic 10 season in program history while tying the 1987 squad's mark of 15 victories on Sunday in the regular season finale. A tribute to GW's nearly-impenetrable defense, this year's team's 12 shutouts bested the previous record of 10 set in 1990.
THE ROAD AHEAD: The Colonials will have to win three games to claim their first Atlantic 10 Championship in program history. A victory over George Mason on Thursday would put GW in the semifinals against the winner of fourth-seeded VCU and fifth-seeded Fordham. The Colonials downed VCU, 2-0, in a pivotal contest as both squads were 4-0-0 in the conference at the time of the match. This season, GW edged Fordham, 1-0, on an early free kick success from Pavon and played keen defense to secure the victory.
Defending A-10 Champion and second-seeded Dayton is atop the other side of the bracket - an opponent the Colonials did not face this year. The Flyers closed their regular season on an offensive tear, winning their final five matches while outscoring opponents 19-5.
"Having the top seed is certainly a good spot to be in," said Coach Barnes. "In terms of confidence, we have been able to find ways to win, no game in this conference is an easy one, and we know that heading into the tournament. We're looking to be consistent and put together a full 90 minutes of really good soccer every time we go out there."
