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`On senior day, Millersville’s women’s soccer team rose together as one and sent their seniors, Sarah Cameron, Nicki Conzentino, and Jamie Lancaster off in style with an upset of one of the PSAC’S best teams, the Bloomsburg Huskies.
Heading into the season finale the team hit another slump, going winless in three straight games after a blowout of Chestnut Hill.
After the rout, the Marauders traveled to Kutztown for a rematch with the Golden Bears.
In the first meeting the Marauders were defeated 1-0 at home in a game in which they came out very flat.
The rematch started off in a much different fashion. Just 16 minutes into the game the visitors jumped in front, on freshman Taylor Suskie’s 3rd goal of the year. That was “all she wrote” for the Marauder offense as they would be held off the scoresheet the rest of the day.
Kutztown tied the game up in the 32nd minute. Kutztown scored to take the lead just three minutes into the second half. The Golden Bears tacked on another in the 68th minute to round out the scoring.
Millersville had another shot at redemption when they hit the road again for a rematch with Shippensburg.
The Red Raiders trounced Millersville 3-1 in their September meeting. It turned into a goaltending duel, neither netminder flinched as the game ended in a scoreless draw.
Jamie Lancaster made 12 saves in the game.
Freshman defender Allison Snyder gets set to send the ball towards the goal during a win against Bloomsburg on Saturday. Photo by Christian Shuts.
The Marauders were set the end the season with a two-game home stand. First they played host to East Stroudsburg. In another defensive struggle, ESU edged the home team 1-0 on an early 2nd half goal.
Millersville mustered only one shot on goal in the contest. Heading into the final chapter of the season it looked like the season would come to rough end with Bloomsburg coming to town.
In their first meeting, Millersville scored first but gave up a late tying goal and then lost a heartbreaker in overtime.
The rematch began much to the delight of the Huskies when they broke through at the 26th minute. Playing an inspired game, the Marauders were not deterred and answered back in the 29th minute on an Allison Snyder free-kick.
“On the kick I just told myself to put it on goal and aim for the corners. I kept the ball low and put power behind it,” said the freshman.
She picked quite a time for her first collegiate goal. Just three minutes later, lightning struck and Millersville had the lead. Olivia Taylor finished off a beautiful play slamming home her third goal of the year.
Millersville continued to pour it on in the first half firing four more shots on goal.
The second half turned into the Jamie Lancaster show.
On senior day, the senior shined, stopping all six shots on goal in the second half, including four in the final 20 minutes.
The Marauders dodged a huge bullet in the 79th minute when a Huskie shot drilled off of the post to keep the underdogs ahead.
In the waning seconds of the game, Lancaster ended her collegiate career with a remarkable save. With 36 ticks left on the clock Lancaster dove and made a game saving save to preserve the win.
Emotions ran high before, during and after the win.
“Before the game we talked a lot about sending our girls off on a high note. There were some teary eyes, the seniors had a lot of respect from their teammates,” said Coach Mike O’Brien.
The 2008 season can be looked at as a step in the right direction for the program. Each year O’Brien has been here the win total has improved (3,4,6).
The Marauders should continue to build their win total. Today’s young team will turn into seasoned veterans which will pay dividends in the next few seasons.
“You have to get accustomed to playing in the PSAC,“ said O’Brien. “It is physical and tough conference.”
Look for the Marauders to be in contention for a playoff berth next season.