Madison, N.J. (November 14)- The sixth-seeded FDU-Florham women's soccer team is set to face off with third-seeded University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg in the Semifinals of the 2024 ECAC Division III Women's Soccer Championship Tournament on Saturday, November 16 at 7:30 pm.

Scouting the Devils
After winning the 2022 ECAC's, FDU-Florham will hope to reclaim their title after a disappointing 3-2 loss against Pittsburgh – Greensburg in the semifinals of the 2023 ECAC's. This season, the Devils will run it back against the Bobcats with a revamped roster in the first round of the 2024 ECAC's.

FDU-Florham enters this matchup with an overall record of 9-9-2. The Devils improved in conference play compared to last year, finishing 2-3-2 in the MAC Freedom, and only missing the conference tournament off a tiebreaker. They also remained above .500 in non-conference play, finishing the regular season with a 7-6-0 record in non-conference matchups, including a 3-3-0 home record on Robert T. Shields Field, which is where the tournament will be taking place.

The Devils are led by Head Coach and 2022 ECAC Coach of the Year Kristin Giotta, who, in her 18^th season, has an overall record of 193-160-24 as the Head Coach of the Devils.

Defensively, FDU has seen a star rise up in their goalkeeper, Ava Gianni (North Brunswick, NJ). For her first year as the Devils starter, she has done extremely well., earning a MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week. In her rookie campaign, she racked up 84 saves, which ranked fourth in the MAC Freedom, and earned a .689 save percentage. She on average had 4.2 saves per game and posted 2.10 goals against average. She also earned three shutouts this season.

 Helping her out on the backline is the always dependable duo of Sofia Carrozza (Pawling, NY), Amanda Martinho (Bridgewater, NJ), with the pair from Jefferson, Alanna Bishop (Jefferson, NY) and Georgia Oberman (Jefferson, NJ) supporting them.

In the midfield, FDU-Florham has seen continued production from Daniella Conanan (Hazlet, NJ), and Ashleigh Frankel (Branchburg, NJ), although the newest face on the midfield, Reena Hamouda (Forked River, NJ) has made a significant impact to the team as well.

The Devils are led offensively by the one-two punch of Ashley Dietrich (Middletown, NJ) and Mia Lopez (Rockaway, NJ). Both are in the top 5 in the MAC Freedom on shots overall, shots on goal, goals, and points. Both scored 10 goals and 7 assists this season for 27 points, which are tied for first for the Devils. They are supported by a rotating cast of third attackers, featuring Emma Letizia (North Haledon, NJ), Madison Kleinwaks (Boonton, NJ), Brytney Moore (Northville, NY), and Gabriela Arias (Mine Hill, NJ)


Scouting the Bobcats

The Pittsburgh-Greensburg women's soccer team enters this matchup as the third seed with an overall record of 12-4-4. In non-conference play, the team posted a record of 5-3-4, including a 2-1-4 record in non-conference away matches.

The Bobcats had a successful season this year that saw them enter the Alleghany Mountain Collegiate pitConference (AMCC) as the second seed. They received a bye into the second round of the tournament, where they defeated three-seeded Penn State Altoona 2-1. However, they got shut out in the championship game by Penn State Behrend, 4-0.

Pitt-Greensburg is led by Head Coach Chuck Wigle, who has entered his 12^th season with the team and has had a winning record with this program every season since 2015, including eclipsing the 100-win mark at the helm. Last season, he led his team to the 2023 ECAC Finals against Hartford but fell short by a score of 6-0.

The Bobcats offense is led by Sarah Tonkovich, who scored 10 goals and three assists for Pitt-Greensburg this season. She is supported by the 2024 AMCC Newcomer of the Year, Riley Gesinski, who in her first year as a Bobcat, racked up 19 points with six goals and seven assists.

The Pitt-Greensburg defense is held down by fellow AMCC first teamer Julia Rowe, and goalkeeper Paige John. Rowe played every game for the Bobcats this season and led their defensive effort. John was once again amongst the top of every statistical category in the AMCC, including having the second-best save percentage (.803) and goals against average (0.95), and third in goals against (15). This got even better in conference play, where she had a record of 7-1 and maintained six shutouts, while only allowing two goals in the conference regular season.

The winner of this matchup will advance to the ECAC semifinals, and play Springfield College at Hartford University on November 23^rd.

First Round - Saturday, Nov. 16 at FDU-Florham
Game 1: No. 4 New Jersey City University vs. No. 5 Juniata - 5:00 p.m.
Game 2: No. 6 FDU-Florham vs. No. 3 University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg - 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Saturday, Nov. 23 at University of Hartford
SF 1: Winner Game 1 vs. No. 1 University of Hartford at 11:00 AM
SF 2: Winner Game 2 vs. No 2 Springfield College at 2:00 PM

Final - Sunday Nov. 24 at University of Hartford
Winner SF 1 vs. Winner SF 2 at Noon
 
Ticket Prices: CASH ONLY
$5 – Adults
$3 – Seniors
$3 – Students with valid school ID
FDU students, Faculty & Staff – FREE
Children Under 6 years of age - FREE

For the latest on FDU-Florham Athletics, follow the Devils via social media (@FDUDevils) on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. 
 
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