By Rich Conforti Assistant Sports Editor
In a weekend that was full of individual accolades for the Greyhounds, they now stand just one win away from a MAAC championship, a team goal that was set prior to the season. A 3-1 comeback win against fifth seeded Canisius put the Hounds in their third straight MAAC championship game.
The win brought the Hounds unbeaten streak to 13 games. The streak now stands as a school record, as Loyola has gone 11-0-2 over the span.
Despite dominating 13-5 in the shots category, Loyola trailed Canisius 1-0 up until the 37th minute of the game. Freshman Gianna Mangione would make her first goal of the season count, as she put away a Kelly Farrell corner kick that was also headed by Tessa McClenahan and Heather Cooke on the way to Mangione.
Loyola never looked back from here, as they carried their strong play into the second half, as Mangione was be credited with another goal in the 68th minute, a goal that would stand as the game-winner. Her 25-yard shot deflected off of a Canisius defender and find its way to the back of the net.
Theresa Ferraina added the third and final goal of the day for Loyola, as she put away a rebound goal, the 25th of her storied Loyola career. The Hounds were able to dominate the Griffins in the shot category, out shooting their opponents 23-9.
On the defensive end, freshman goalkeeper Danielle Ippolito was strong, holding the nation's 25th ranked offense to just one goal on the day. The defense was also superb, only forcing Ippolito to make three saves against the Griffins.
The quarterfinal round did not go as smoothly for the hounds, as it took overtime and penalty kicks for the Hounds to knock off the Manhattan Jaspers 1-1 (5-4 penalty kicks). The winning penalty kick was converted by senior Amanda Meehan, who buried her goal in the sixth round of shots.
Christina Gomez, Lisa Staropoli, Gianna Mangione, and Nichole Schiro all converted on their attempts, as Loyola only missed in the third round of attempts. Prior to the game winner by Meehan, freshman keeper Danielle Ippolito stoned an attempt by the Jasper's Jill Beauchamp.
The Hounds found themselves in an early 1-0 hole, but quickly were able to bounce back in a familiar way, as Schiro put away a rebound off of a Kelly Thomas free kick attempt. The goal was the ninth on the season for Schiro, which puts her in the team lead.
The score would stay deadlocked for the remainder of regulation as well as two overtime periods, as the Jaspers out shot the Greyhounds 16-10.
In addition to advancing to the conference championship game, Loyola would also receive several individual accolades over the weekend. The Hounds would sweep the three main individual awards for the conference, taking home coach of the year, offensive player of the year, and defensive player of the year.
Coach of the year winner Katherine Vettori led the hounds to a 13-win season, with nine of those coming in conference play. The second year head coach has yet to lose a conference match in her career, going 16-0-2 in those contests.
Graduate student Theresa Ferrraina would earn MAAC offensive player of the year, scoring six goals and recording 15 points on the season. She ranks fourth all-time at the school with 24 goals and third in history with 63 points.
Capping off a dominating season, senior goalkeeper Brittany Henderson would earn MAAC defensive player of the year. Henderson would record nine shutouts on the year, good enough for tops in the conference. The award is the second of Henderson's career, as she earned the same accolades in 2007.
Henderson, Ferraina, Lina Staropoli, and Heather Cooke were first team all-league selections. In addition, Kelly Farrell and Christina Gomez were selected to the all-league second team. Leading goal scorer Nichole Schiro and Tessa McClenahan were chosen as members of the all-rookie team.
The list of individual accolades will hopefully be a side note for the Hounds on the weekend, as they are set to face Niagara in the league's championship game on Monday, November 2nd at 1:00 pm. The sixth seeded Purple Eagles defeated Marist 2-1 in overtime to earn a birth in the championship game.
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