#8 Emory Defeats DePauw in First Round NCAA Tournament Action
The 16th-ranked Emory University women's soccer team
opened up NCAA Division III Championship play on Saturday night
with a 2-0 victory of DePauw University in first round action from
Danville, Kentucky.
Emory struck early in the game, getting onto the board in
the 25th minute, when junior Veronica
Romero sent a long shot from the far side of the field in
between the DePauw defense and past the Tigers' keeper for her
team-leading eighth goal of the season. Romero now leads all
Emory scorers this season with 20 points as well.
Emory's offense finished the first half of play with 17 shots,
including six shots on goal. Meanwhile the Eagles' defense
held DePauw without a shot during the frame.
The Eagles' added to their lead early in the second half, taking
advantage of a corner kick in the 48th minute. The
kick, taken by senior Lee Bachouros, was headed
inside the box by junior Lauren Gorodetsky to
sophomore Emily Feldman, who was able to send a
shot into the back of the net for the goal, extending Emory's
advantage to 2-0. It was Feldman's fifth goal of the
season.
From that point forward, the Eagles' defense would take over,
limiting the Tigers to just four shots the rest of the way, with
senior goalkeeper Kaele Leonard saving all three
attempts on goal. Emory controlled possession throughout the
game, finishing the contest with 29 shots and 16 shots on goal.
Romero and Feldman each finished with a game-high four shots,
while Feldman and Kaelyn Lucas led all Eagles with
three shots on goal. Starting goalkeeper Erica
Stein earned the victory in goal, improving to 7-0-1 this
season.
Emory, now 12-1-6 this season, will advance to the second-round of
the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championships to take on
seventh-ranked and host school Centre College, which stands at
20-1-0 for the year. DePauw's season came to a close with a
7-11-1 record.
A full preview of Sunday's second-round game will be posted to
EmoryAthletics.com shortly.
Emory Notes
The Eagles have now won at least one tournament game
in each of their last nine trips to the NCAA Championships, and
advanced each of the last 10 times they have been selected to the
field… The program is now 11-11-4 all-time in NCAA
Tournament play, including an 8-5-1 record under Head Coach Sue
Patberg… Emory's defense recorded its 11th
shutout in tournament history, seven of which have been under
Patberg… The shutout was Emory's 12 of the season, and the
team's fourth in the last five games… Romero's game-winning
goal was her third of the season, the second-most by an Eagles'
player in 2012… Her first-half goal broke up a streak of 405
consecutive minutes without a goal for Emory… All four
University Athletic Association (UAA) women's soccer teams (Emory,
Washington University, Carnegie Mellon and Brandeis) advanced with
first-round victories on Saturday.
