BALTIMORE, MD — Notre Dame of Maryland made history in the first round of the United East Conference playoffs, coming away with an emphatic 5–3 home victory over Penn State Brandywine on Wednesday afternoon at Alumnae Field. This is the first postseason win for the Gators women's soccer program in the modern era of record keeping (2009-present) as they keep their exciting season going.
The Gators exploded for four first-half goals to seize control early. Freshman Olivia Messercola opened the scoring in the 16th minute off an assist from Alex Busick on a counter attack started by a Leah Acri steal at midfield. Busick took possession and sent in a perfectly weighted through ball as Messercola was able to dribble around the diving goalkeeper and tap the ball into an empty net. The Gators nearly doubled their lead a few minutes later as Madyson Costello had a fast break, but she was tripped by from behind by Brandywine's Maddie Pflug who was shown a red card for the denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity and forcing the Nittany Lions to play a player down for the final 70 minutes of the game.
Leah Acri followed with two goals in quick succession; one in the 39th minute from Malaika Habib and another just two minutes later set up by Busick to make it 3–0. The first one saw a perfectly placed corner kick by Addison Barry get settled down by Habib for Acri to power a shot into the net from close range. It took just three minutes for Acri to add her second as Tessa Wiles stole the ball away and set Busick into the corner where she hit a beautiful left footed cross to Acri on the back post for the one-time shot.
Busick then got in on the scoring herself in the 43rd minute, finishing a corner kick from Addison Barry with a powerful shot from six yards away as Notre Dame took a commanding 4–0 lead into halftime.
Penn State Brandywine pulled one back in the 52nd minute, but Busick quickly answered with her second goal of the match, assisted by Messercola on a perfect cross from the right wing that Busick tapped in from close range, restoring the four-goal cushion. Brandywine added late tallies in the 77th minute and a penalty kick in the final minute, but the Gators' early dominance proved decisive.
Busick finished with two goals and two assists, while Acri added two goals and Messercola tallied a goal and an assist. Habib and Barry each contributed an assist, and goalkeeper Leah Hasberry made six saves before Emmalee Corbin came on to stop three more in relief.
NDM will advance to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament as they travel south to St. Mary's College of Maryland on Saturday, November 1 at 5:30 PM. The #2 seeded St. Mary's Seahawks finished the regular season 11-6-2 and 8-0 in the conference, including a 7-1 victory against the Gators back on October 7.
