Bridgeport Women's Soccer Set For 2013 ECC Championship Tournament

Bridgeport, Conn. - The University of Bridgeport women's soccer team will open the 2013 East Coast Conference Championship Tournament at home on Thursday evening, November 7 when the LIU Post Pioneers come to Knights Field for a 6:00 p.m. contest.  Bridgeport, the number one seed in the tournament, comes into Thursday's match with a 15-2-0 overall record, and the Purple Knights went 8-1-0 in conference play during the regular season.  LIU Post, the number four seed, went 13-4-0 overall during the regular season and 6-3-0 in ECC play.  Bridgeport won the 2013 regular season meeting between the two teams, 2-1, on October 12, in a match that took place at Knights Field.  UB opened the season with a loss at American International and followed that up with 15 straight victories before falling at Queens (N.Y.) College, 2-0, in last Wednesday's regular season finale.

In Thursday's other 2013 ECC Women's Soccer Championship Semifinal, number two seed Mercy (12-3-1 overall and 7-2-0 ECC) will host number three seed Queens (N.Y.) College (11-5-1 overall, 6-3-0 ECC).  That match will begin at 1:30 p.m.  Thursday's winners will meet on Saturday, November 9 on the home field of the highest remaining seeded team to decide the 2013 East Coast Conference Women's Soccer Title.  If Bridgeport hosts Saturday's final, the match will begin at 11:00 a.m.  The 2013 East Coast Conference Women's Soccer Champion will receive an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer National Championship Tournament that is slated to begin on Friday, November 15.

On offense, junior Danielle Puddefoot (Slough, England) leads the team in scoring with 28 points on a team-high 12 goals and four assists.  Sophomore  Flo Gamby (Goffs Oak, England) is next in scoring with 18 points on eight goals and two assists.  Freshman Tabea Rauschenberger (Mühlacker, Germany) rounds out the trio of Bridgeport players with double-digit points with 14, as she has four goals and tied for the team lead in assists with six with classmate Lauren Mengel (Gilbertsville, Pa.).  A total of 13 players have recorded at least one point for UB in 2013, as the Purple Knights netted 37 goals while allowing only 11 in their 17 matches so far this year.

Senior goalkeeper Julia Hansson (Tockfors, Sweden) has anchored the UB defense this season recording a stellar 0.61 goals against average with eight solo shutouts, plus she shared two other clean sheets.  Hansson is the Bridgeport school record holder in career shutouts with 33.

Bridgeport will be looking for its second East Coast Conference Women's Soccer Championship in school history, as the Purple Knights won the conference title for the first time ever in 2009, plus the Purple Knights are also looking for the sixth trip to the NCAA Division II Championship in the last seven years.

2013 ECC Women's Soccer Championship Schedule

Semifinals: Thursday, November 7

No. 3 Queens (N.Y.) at No. 2 Mercy – 1:30 pm

No. 4 LIU Post at No. 1 Bridgeport – 6:00 pm

Finals: Saturday, November 9

Winner 2/3 vs. Winner 1/4 @ highest seed at 11:00 am if UB hosts