BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott College women’s soccer team, winners of The Commonwealth Coast Conference, has drawn an opening-round NCAA Tournament game against SUNY Geneseo, as announced by the NCAA Selection Committee on Monday. The Gulls will be playing out of the Messiah (Pa.) region when tournament play begins on Saturday. The Gulls and the Blue Knights will square-off on November 14th at 7:30 p.m. in Grantham, Pa.

Endicott enters the NCAA Tournament for a seventh-consecutive season after winning The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship this past weekend. The Gulls boasted a 12-1 record in TCCC play and an impressive 17-4 overall mark during the 2009 season.

Geneseo State will need to focus on back-to-back conference Player of the Year \#Caitlin Flynn\# (Southold, N.Y.) and sophomore All-Conference selection \#Colleen Pepin\# (Fairhaven, Mass.). The dangerous duo combined to score six of Endicott’s seven goals in the conference postseason. Pepin leads the team with 16 goals and 37 points while Flynn has 11 goals and nine assists for 31 points. The pair has combined for 10 game-winners this season.

The defensive end of the field is just as talented for the Gulls’ \#Amy Meuse\# (Saugus, Mass.) will put her perfect 11-0 record on the line this weekend. Meuse has allowed just one goal since rejoining the team on October 3rd and helped backstop the Gulls to a nation-long consecutive minutes scoreless streak of 1,063:59 that was snapped in the conference final against Western New England. All-league defenders \#Caitlin Peters\# (Salem, N.H.) and \#Victoria Hunt\# (Cumberland, R.I.) will also attempt to combat the Blue Knights’ offensive attack.

Geneseo got the Automatic Qualifier out of the SUNYAC with a 2-1 win over Cortland State. The Blue Knights went 14-2-2 in the regular season and were led by senior Eileen Coyle’s (Oneonta, N.Y.) 12 goals and one assist. Goalkeeper Katie Clerkin (Stony Brook, N.Y.) started 17 of 18 games and posted a sparking goals against average of 0.78 with a save percentage of .750. 

2009 NCAA Tournament Schedule: Messia (Pa.) Region:

Saturday, November 14:
5:00 p.m. - Messiah vs. Farmingdale
7:30 p.m. - Endicott vs. SUNY Geneseo

Sunday, November 15:
6:00 p.m. - Winner of Game One vs. Winner of Game Two

To view the entire 2009 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament bracket, please click here.