Nov. 10, 2002
Junior midfielder Anabel Jimenez and freshman midfielder Simone Konig combined for two goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half to lift third-seeded American (10-8-2) to a 2-1 victory over fourth-seeded Colgate (7-9-2) in the championship match of the Patriot League Women's Soccer Tournament Sunday at Army.
The Eagles became the second-straight third-seeded team to win the PL championship, which earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Pairings for the national championship will be announced Monday afternoon on ESPNEWS at 4:30 p.m., and the first-round of the 64-team tournament will be held Friday (Nov. 15).
It is American's first PL women's soccer title since the Eagles joined the PL prior to the 2001 campaign. Colgate played in the PL Championship match for the 10th time in the 12-year history of the League, but fell short for just the third time.
Colgate scored the only goal of the first half in the fifth minute when junior midfielder Kate Barrett re-directed a shot past American sophomore keeper Jen Liese. Sophomores Kyle Koch and Allison Bernardini got the assists on Barrett's second goal of the Tournament.
Playing with the wind in the second half, American immediately pressured the CU goal. In the 49th minute, Jimenez headed a corner kick from Konig just inside the right post to even the game.
Eight minutes later, Jimenez beat two Raider defenders down the right touchline, then sent a crossing pass from the corner to Konig, who made no mistake for the game-winning goal.
Jimenez, who assisted on the game-winning goal in Friday's 2-1 overtime victory over Navy in the League semifinal round, was named the Tournament MVP.
Liese finished with two saves on 13 Colgate shots while Raider keeper Kate Jassin recorded five stops on 17 American attempts.
