October 28, 2009

Box Score

BLOOMSBURG – Freshman midfielder Crystal Zerbe scored with 3:56 remaining in regulation and sophomore midfielder Devon Miniscalco had the game-winner 1:00 into overtime to send East Stroudsburg University to the PSAC women’s soccer playoffs for the third straight season with a 2-1 win at Bloomsburg on Wednesday night.

Zerbe, who scored with five seconds left in regulation to give ESU a 2-2 tie vs. Shippensburg last Tuesday, scored her fourth goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 before Miniscalco delivered the game-winner exactly 1:00 into the extra session.

Miniscalco leads the Warriors with 11 goals this season and had her second game-winning goal as ESU improves to 11-5-2 (5-4-2 PSAC East). Samantha Fox scored the game’s first goal in the 59th minute for Bloomsburg, which stood as the game-winner until Zerbe leveled the score.

Senior goalkeeper Michelle Ginn had four saves and improved to 5-1-1 with a 0.92 goals against average in seven games as the Warriors’ starting goalkeeper this season. Frances Nicoletti made eight saves for Bloomsburg, which was outshot 11-8.

ESU and Bloomsburg (6-8-3, 4-5-2) were tied for third in the conference standings entering the penultimate game of the regular season, with both schools facing challenging opponents on Saturday.

The Warriors come out of the game with 17 points and can clinch the No. 3 seed in the PSAC East with a win or a tie against West Chester, or a Bloomsburg (14 points) loss or tie at Kutztown on Saturday. The Huskies hold the tiebreaker with the Warriors if both teams finish with 17 points due to their 1-0 win over West Chester on Sept. 2. Shippensburg (9 points) can still get to 15 points and knock Bloomsburg out of the playoff picture with two games left on its schedule.

ESU has made the PSAC semifinals in both of the last two seasons for the first time since 1997-98. The opponent and game time for the Warriors’ quarterfinal match-up on Tuesday, November 3 will be announced as soon as it is available.