Women's Soccer Sees 2013 Season Come To An End With 2-0 Loss At AIC In NCAA Second Round Match
Purple Knights End The Year With An Impressive 18-3-0 Record
Springfield, Mass.-The 2013 University of Bridgeport women's soccer season came to end on a wet Sunday afternoon in Springfield Massachusetts in the Second Round of the 2013 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship Tournament just as it began on September 6 with a 2-0 loss to the host American International College Yellow Jackets. UB ends its 2013 season with an 18-3-0 overall records which ties the team record for wins in a single season. AIC moves on to next Friday's East Regional Final, where they will face the College of St. Rose, with a 16-2-2 record. Bridgeport entered this season's NCAA Championship as the number three seed in the East Region; while the Yellow Jackets are the number two seed.
AIC got on the board quickly on Sunday, as Mariah Shade found the back of the net just 1:06 into the match.
Bridgeport was forced to play a with only 10 players for the majority of the afternoon when starting goalkeeper Julia Hansson (Sr., Tockfors, Sweden) was shown a red card just 10:28 into play where she was whistled for a hand ball out side of the 18-yard box. The Purple Knights battle playing one player short for most of the day, as they kept the Yellow Jackets from adding another goal until just over 11 minutes remained in the contest when Sonia Basma tallied goal number 18 of 2013.
Sophomore Jackie Fonseca (West Harrison, N.Y.) came in to replace Hansson, and she made four saves in 79:32 of action. AIC outshot UB, 25-4 on the day. Yellow Jackets goalkeeper Sam Tabek made one save to record the clean sheet. AIC also took 13 corner kicks to zero for Bridgeport.
Junior Gillian Munro (Manchester, England) was credited with the Purple Knights' lone shot on goal.
Even with the disappointment of Sunday's loss, the future looks bright for the Bridgeport women's soccer program which won the 2013 East Coast Conference title and made its six NCAA appearance in the last seven years, as the 2013 team had only two senior on the roster.