Nov. 1, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - With a 1-0 win over Colgate in the last regular-season game on Saturday, defending Patriot League Women's Soccer champion Navy earned the right to play for a third straight title on its home field by clinching the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Women's Soccer Championship, which begins on Friday.
The field was set earlier in the day, with Bucknell posting a 2-1 victory at home against American to clinch a berth and knock the Eagles out of the playoff picture. That victory also put Colgate in the Tournament, along with Army and Navy who had clinched their spots last week.
The Mids received the No. 1 seed in the field with 17 points, followed by Bucknell as the No. 2 seed with 15 points, Army as the No. 3 with 14 points and Colgate playing as the No. 4 seed in the field with 12 points. No. 1 seed Navy will host No. 4 Colgate in the early semifinal game on Friday, with No. 2 Bucknell taking on No. 3 Army in the nightcap. The winners of the semifinal contests meet in Sunday's Championship tilt, with all times yet to be announced.
Army won at Bucknell, 1-0, on October 12, while Navy posted the 1-0 victory at Colgate on Saturday.
Navy will host the Patriot League Women's Soccer Championship for the third time, previously hosting the event in 1998 and 2001.
Navy will go in search of its fourth overall and third consecutive crown for Head Coach Carin Gabarra. The Mids have won the title in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Bucknell, which hosted the event in each of the last two seasons and fell to Navy, 1-0, in the 2007 title contest, goes for its third Patriot League title and first since 2005. Army tries for its second League title, and first since 1993, for outgoing Head Coach Gene Ventriglia, while Colgate tries to extend its Patriot League record to 11 titles.
Colgate is in the field for the first time since 2006, while the remaining three teams were all there last season. Army makes its second consecutive appearance in the Tournament, while Navy is there for the third straight year and Bucknell is in Patriot League Women's Soccer Championship for the fourth year in a row.
The No. 1 seed has not won the Championship since Colgate claimed the title in 2004.
For more information, please visit the 2008 Patriot League Women's Soccer Championship page.
