Live Stats / PSAC Release / Edinboro Preview

INDIANA, PA – IUP returns to postseason for the eighth straight season when the Crimson Hawks visit Edinboro in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Soccer Tournament on Tuesday.

The Crimson Hawks (11-3-3, 9-3-2) enter as the fifth seed while Edinboro is seeded fourth. California grabs the top overall seed and will host eighth-seeded Bloomsburg. No. 2 Kutztown will play No. 7 Gannon while No. 3 Slippery Rock will host No. 6 West Chester.

The highest remaining seed after Tuesday's games will host the semifinals on Friday, November 4 and the championship on Saturday, November 5.

FIRST MATCHUP: Edinboro won the regular season matchup between these two schools, rallying from a 3-1 deficit at halftime for a 4-3 overtime victory. The Fighting Scots got on the board first, scoring in the 13th minute, before the Crimson Hawks scored three goals in the span of 3:32 to jump in front 3-1.

Edinboro came out strong in the second half, scoring in the 57th minute and then tying the score when IUP scored an own goal in the 69th minute. The Fighting Scots came away with the win in the 106th minute when Samantha Kaiser beat two defenders off the left side and laced the right bottom corner of the net.

SCOUTING IUP: The Crimson Hawks went their first seven games without a blemish on their record, starting the season 6-0-1 before that 4-3 Edinboro loss. Two games later they tied Cal 2-2, which at the time was ranked third in the nation, before falling in back-to-back games to West Chester and Slippery Rock. IUP went 3-0-1 down the stretch, closing out its regular season with a 1-1 tie with Alderson-Broaddus in the rain last Thursday.

The IUP offense is led by the two-headed monster of seniors Heather Robbins (Frederica, DE/Polytech) and Melissa Kornock (Hatfield/North Penn). Robbins is tied for first in the PSAC and second in the nation in goals with 15 this year, getting at least two in five different games, including the first meeting with the Fighting Scots. Her six game-winning goals this season are tied for fourth in Division II, while her 0.938 goals per game is ninth and her 2.13 points per game (34 total) is 14 nationally.

Kornock is right behind Robbins in scoring, netting 13 goals this season and adding seven assists for a total of 33 points, just one shy of Robbins. She's scored at least two goals in a game three times this year, including a four-game span where she scored six and totaled 15 points, with six coming in a game against East Stroudsburg.

IUP has outscored opponents 40-20 this year, and leading that defensive charge are goalies Mara Hricik (Moon Twp./Moon) and Kelly Brennan (Middletown/Middletown). Hricik has started eight games this year, picking up seven wins and four shutouts, allowing just nine goals in just over 1,000 minutes played. She has an 0.80 goals against average, saving 39 shots in 12 total games played.

Brennan has started and seen action in nine games this year, putting together a 1.64 goals against average. She's allowed just 11 goals in 603 minutes played, has 36 saves and is responsible for four IUP victories.

Helping out the goalies are defenders Paige Virgara (Pittsburgh/Keystone Oaks), Kaitlyn Kaminski (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) and Nicole Miller (South Park/South Park). Virgara and Kaminski have each started all 17 games this year, while Miller has started all 12 games that she's played in.

SCOUTING EDINBORO: The Fighting Scots, ranked 17th in the nation, had three different four-game win streaks during the season, finishing the year with a 14-4 record, 10-4 in PSAC play. One of those win streaks also included four straight shutouts, as Edinboro has held its opponents scoreless nine times this year.

Kaiser leads the Fighting Scots in scoring with 33 points, netting 14 goals and adding five assists. Elizabeth Debo is Edinboro's second best goal-scorer with seven while Karisa Fernandez has 22 points on six goals and 10 assists.

The Fighting Scots also have two goalies that have received chunks of playing time, with Meghan Kelly allowing just 12 goals in 11 starts and Kate Stukbauer giving up two in seven starts. Stukbauer has an incredible 0.28 goals against average, scoring five shutouts and going a perfect 7-0 on the year. Kelly has four shutouts and 47 saves, and is responsible for the Fighting Scots other seven wins.

Edinboro has outscored opponents 42-15 and owns a 7-2 mark this year at home.

IUP in the PSAC TOURNAMENT: This will be the 10th time that IUP has advanced to the PSAC tournament since adding women's soccer in 1994, including eight straight from 2004-11. The Crimson Hawks are 8-8 all-time in the tournament play, with their last win being a 1-0 victory over Mercyhurst in the first round in 2009. This will be the second time that these two schools meet in the PSAC tournament, the first being in 2007 when the Fighting Scots won 3-1.