BOX SCORE Emmitsburg, Md.  - The Saint Francis women's soccer team (8-7-2, 5-1-1 NEC) clinched a playoff berth on Friday thanks to a goal and an assist from sophomore Alyssa McGhee (Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) in a 2-0 win at Mount St. Mary's (5-11-1, 2-5 NEC).

Van Stralen's Reaction

"We had a good team performance today," said head coach Brenda van Stralen. "We were able to keep the ball and control the tempo of the match. A lot of credit has to be given to Mount St. Mary's for fighting for the entire 90 minutes but we did enough to win the match and deserved the three points."

Turning Point

Senior Siobhan Bross (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) turned a 1-0 lead into a comfortable 2-0 margin with her first goal of the season in the 54th minute, lacing a shot into the top corner from 25 yards out. The Red Flash never looked back.

Highlights

• Saint Francis struck first just 5:55 into the match as McGhee picked out senior Gabi Morales (Madrid, Spain/Colegio La Inmaculada-Marillac) with a cross at the far post and she converted for her fifth tally of the season.
• Bross doubled the lead with her blast at 53:09. The midfielder found space on top of the box and hit a left-footed dipping shot that left the Mount St. Mary's goalkeeper helpless.
• Sophomore Abigail Tarosky (North Huntington, Pa./Norwin) nearly made the lead 3-0 moments later, lunging for a cross from Morales and redirecting it off the crossbar.
• McGhee scored her eighth goal of the season, which ties her for the conference lead, in the 67th minute. She received a pass from senior Leah Hardin (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen), took her touch around a Mount St. Mary's defender, and hit a shot across her body inside the near post.
• The Mountaineers added a consolation goal in the 77th minute as Jordan Fine hit a cross first time into the goal from six yards out.

Notes

• Saint Francis outshot Mount St. Mary's 19-8 for the match. Shots on goal were 8-4 in favor of the Red Flash.
• McGhee led Saint Francis with five shots. Bross and Morales followed with four and three, respectively. 
• The Red Flash has now qualified for the NEC Playoffs in eight straight seasons dating back to 2009.
• The top of the standings remained the same as CCSU, Fairleigh Dickinson and Saint Francis all won. CCSU finishes the regular-season 6-2 and currently occupies the top spot. However, Fairleigh Dickinson and Saint Francis can pass them with a win in their final games. FDU owns the tiebreaker over Saint Francis if both win out.

Up Next

Saint Francis closes its regular season Sunday at LIU Brooklyn at 2 p.m.