The College of Staten Island women’s soccer unit is 2-0 this season, and after a home win over NJCU, they will now turn their attention to Purchase College, as they take on the Panthers tonight under the lights at 7pm in Purchase, NY. The Dolphins’ best season start was back in 2014 when they started 4-0, and will look to continue to tread positively in that direction tonight.
CSI vs. PURCHASE COLLEGE AT-A-GLANCE
Matchup: CSI (2-0) vs. Purchase College (1-0)
Where: Purchase College – 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY
All-Time Series: CSI leads, 7-4
Last Year’s Meeting: CSI won, 1-0 OT
Players to Watch (CSI): Like the CSI men’s team, all of CSI’s goals this season have come from different players, with Nicole Mignone, Kaitlin Russo, and Lauren Smith pouring in goals on Tuesday against NJCU. Four Dolphins have started the season by playing every minute on the pitch, including the brutally humid game on Tuesday. Catherine Mulligan and Lizbeth Aparicio anchor a stout back line, while Brianna DiStefano is a defensive midfielder with a penchant to get downfield. Finally, freshman Kaila DiBenedetto has played 180 minutes in goal, registering her first career shutout with a busy, three-save performance against NJCU a couple of days ago.
Players to Watch (PC): Cerissa DiValentino made quite the statement in Purchase’s opener against Yeshiva on Tuesday at Aviator Field in Brooklyn. The freshman scored a whopping five goals in the 8-0 win. Sophomore Brett Robison added two goals in the win. She posted two shots on goal against CSI when these two teams met last year in Staten Island. Fellow sophomore Berenice Rojas sits second on the team with six shots fired and added a goal as well. Amber Yarter and Ashley Blom shared a half each in goal but were virtually uncontested, making no saves in the opener.
News and Notes: This has been a very good series, with the last two games going to overtime. CSI has won both, including a wild, 3-2, win over Purchase on the road in 2015. Last year, it was Krystina Rodriguez’s goal four and a half minutes into overtime that sealed it. It has been a series of streaks however, as Purchase won the first four games in the set from 2004-2009, while CSI has taken the last seven games. Five of the 11 games in the series have been one-goal games, so both teams expect a spirited and heavily-contested contest this evening. Tonight is Purchase’s home opener. They went 3-3-1 at home last season as part of a 5-10-1 overall campaign. They fell 4-0 in their home opener last year to Manhattanville. Purchase is looking to be more offensive this year, as evidenced by their breakout game against Yeshiva. The Panthers were shutout 10 times last season and were out-shot by a large, 282-192, margin. Meanwhile, CSI bitterly out-shot their opponents last year by a whopping 421-146. In their meeting last year, CSI out-shot Purchase, 24-10 (13-4 on goal).
