For most of the first half, the Gannon University women’s soccer team had a strong wind blowing in its favor during Friday’s PSAC semifinal against Edinboro at McConnell Family Stadium.
However a red card in the 18th minute would be stiffer than the wind Gannon (18-2-0) would face in the second half.
Becca Albert was ejected after fouling Edinboro’s Alex Brown in a one-on-one battle just outside the box, leaving the Knights with 10 players for the final 72 minutes, as Edinboro stunned then No. 5-ranked Gannon 3-1.
Edinboro (15-6-0) advanced to the PSAC title game, but fell 2-1 to East Stroudsburg in overtime Sunday.
Following the foul, Brown capitalized with the game’s first score to put Edinboro up 1-0.
“You play three quarters of the game with 10 (women), it’s always going to be tough,” said Gannon coach Colin Petersen, whose team is now ranked No. 7 in the nation.
“But I couldn’t be prouder of the girls — more so than any other game – they put their hearts out there.”
Edinboro used the player edge to its advantage the rest of the half, outshooting Gannon 9-2, but was unable to extend its lead before intermission.
The score remained 1-0 until the 60th minute when Jansen Hartmann found the net to give the Fighting Scots a 2-0 advantage.
Ally Sharpe gave Gannon some life with her goal in the 74h minute, assisted by Kaitlyn Kissell and Mani Brueckner, but that would be as close as the Knights got.
Brown scored again in the final 10 minutes to seal the win for Edinboro.
Despite the loss, Gannon still was selected No. 1 in the Atlantic Region and will host an NCAA Division II Tournament game for the first time in program history.
Gannon faces the Edinboro-Charleston winner at 2 p.m. Sunday at McConnell Family Stadium.
“When you think of the big scheme of things, the NCAA is the tournament you want to succeed in,” Petersen said, following the Edinboro loss. “So this hurts right now and it hurts even more that it’s a rivalry game.
“It’s unfortunate we couldn’t go all the way, but we have a bigger tournament we need to get ourselves ready for.”
DOMINIC SANSONE
