November 27, 2009 GOING AGAINST THE BEST Boston College and its LI women take on No. 1 Stanford in Division I quarterfinals
Freshman Vicki DiMartino of Massapequa Park, N.Y. leads Boston College with 33 points. Photo by Dennis Madigan
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - Seventh-ranked Boston College and its many Long Island-based players will play No. 1 Stanford in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament at Laird Q. Cagan Stadiium Friday at 10 p.m. ET.
The winner of the game will advance to the College Cup in College Station, Texas Dec. 4 and 6.
Fans can follow the game on Stanford's free webcast or www.bceagles.com for live stats and updates on Twitter at BCSportsnews.
Boston College (18-3-2) and Stanford (23-0) have met once - Aug. 31, 2008. Stanford defeated the Eagles, 3-0 at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. Christen Press, Teresa Noyola and Lindsay Taylor scored for Stanford.
The Eagles, the No. 2 seed in the Stanford bracket, hosted the first three rounds of the tournament. BC opened the tournament with a 1-0 victory over Harvard. Junior Amy Caldwell scored just 33 seconds into the second half to secure the win. The Eagles second win was against Connecticut. Natalie Crutchfield and Gina DiMartino scored in the 2-0 victory. Junior Brooke Knowlton stepped up and scored the game-winning goal in the Eagles 1-0 win over Big 10 opponent, Wisconsin, in the third round.
This will be BC's first appearance in the Division I quarterfinals since 1985. Since the expansion of the 64-team bracket, Boston College has advanced to the Sweet 16 round five of the last six years. This is the first time under coach Alison Kulik that BC has reached the Elite Eight.
BC has seven members of the Long Island Fury on the team, including the DiMartino sisters, Gina and Vicki (team-high 33 points) of Massapequa Park, N.Y., defenders Kelly Henderson (Baldwin, N.Y.), Alyssa Pember (Northport, N.Y.), Hannhan Cerrone (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) and Alaina Beyar (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) and goalkeeper Jillian Mastroinanni (Durham, Conn.). The Fury captured its second Women's Premier Soccer League championship in four season this past summer. Forward Lelissa Gimpel (Rockville, Centre, N.Y.) is also on the team.
Some Division I tournament facts:
* In three NCAA games, the Eagles have four different players score goals - Natalie Crutchfield, Gina DiMartino, Brooke Knowlton and Amy Caldwell.
* The Eagles have out shot their opponents, 57-12.
* Mastroianni has three shutouts in the tournament and now has 14 this season. Mastroianni has let up one goal in the last five games.
* BC is one of four Atlantic Coast Conference team still alive in the tournament. Florida State will play Notre Dame and UNC will play Wake Forest.
* The team's 18 wins is a program record. The most games a BC women's soccer team had won was 16 in 1999.
* The Eagles have outscored opponents, 54-10.
* BC has seven shutouts in its last nine games, three in the NCAA tournament.
