The College of Staten Island women’s soccer team will head back to Brooklyn College tomorrow at 2:00pm to take on the home Bulldogs in the CUNYAC Final. When these two teams faced off earlier this season neither team was able to find the back of the net as the game ended in a 0-0 draw. That draw was the first-ever between the two teams as CSI holds the all-time record over the Bulldogs at 4-1-1.
Since the 2009 season where the Dolphins unfortunately did not qualify for the CUNYAC Postseason tournament, the Dolphins have won just one championship out of four opportunities. Prior to the 2009 season CSI was virtually unstoppable ever since the program started in 2004 where they won five consecutive CUNYAC Championships.
Tomorrow’s game will be a rematch of last year’s final where the Bulldogs were able to out duel the Dolphins and walk away with the title after a 3-1 victory. CSI will hope for a different outcome this time around and look for their seventh title in a decade.
The Dolphins looked impressive against Lehman College in the CUNYAC Semifinals as they would go on to win 5-0, increasing their undefeated semifinal streak as well as upholding the record of not allowing a single goal in semifinal play. The women will head into Saturday’s game feeling confident that this is their year despite a slow start to the season. CSI’s offense has really picked up towards the end of the season as junior Danielle Smith was moved from defense to forward and played admirably as she leads the team with eight goals on the year.
Senior midfielder Melissa Gelardi will hope to find cracks in the Bulldog defense so that she is able to slot through balls into her forwards to get on the score sheet early to control the game.
Brooklyn College got by CCNY in their semifinal tilt, 1-0, in overtime.
Fans, there will be a fan bus (free of charge) that will leave at 12:00 pm in front of the Sports and Rec Center. You MUST have a ticket to the game which is also free of charge and you can print it out from http://www.eventbrite.com/e/2014-cunyac-mens-womens-soccer-championships-tickets-12859088881?aff=eorg
If you are still unable to make the game, there will be live play-by-play commentary on www.csidolphins.com/watch