Postseason Preview: Women’s Soccer Heads to Emmanuel (Mass.) for GNAC Semifinals Battle Tuesday

BOSTON, Mass. – For the first time since the 2000 campaign, the third-seed Rivier women's soccer team is headed to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semifinals after a 2-0 win over Albertus Magnus Saturday afternoon at Merrill Field.

The Raiders will play No. 2 Emmanuel (Mass.) on the road in a matchup under the lights of Roberto Clemente Field at 7:00 p.m.

An early scoring chance from first-year Emily Harper in the ninth minute gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead in Saturday's quarterfinal round triumph over No. 6 Albertus Magnus. Harper's persistence led to Rivier drawing a penalty in the 36th minute. Graduate student Darcy Wright tucked her shot past the keeper to extend the Raiders' lead to 2-0. Junior goalkeeper Bri Nugent logged her 10th shutout of the season with her four-save performance.

Harper paces the Raiders' offense with 13 points coming off four goals and five assists in 18 games played. First-year defender Nadia Laxa leads the team in assists with six over 20 games played.

Emmanuel (Mass.) posted a record of 12-2-1 in GNAC play to lock in the two-seed and home-field advantage. The Saints are led by forward Sarah Dullaghan who leads the nation and conference with goals (41) and points (91). Liz McCormick is the primary distributor for the Saints and leads NCAA Division III and the GNAC with 21 assists. In between the posts, goalkeeper Teigan Robie holds a save percentage of .650, which is ranked second in the GNAC.

The Raiders came out on top, 2-1, in their regular-season matchup at Merrill Field back on Sept. 28 after sophomore Amber Casner found twine in the 89th minute, securing Rivier's first victory over the Saints. With the win the Raiders snapped a 13-game skid to the Saints in the all-time series and handed them their first loss of the 2024 campaign.

The winner of Tuesday's matchup will advance to the GNAC Championship against the winner of No. 1 JWU (Providence) and No. 4 Lasell on Saturday, Nov. 9 with time and location to be announced.