BLOOMSBURG Renee Williams (Larksville/Wyo. Valley West) scored off an Alea Balthaser (Hamburg/Hamburg) assist to lift Bloomsburg University to a 1-0 win over Edinboro University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinal playoff game Wednesday afternoon.
The win moves the Huskies, 15-2-1, into Sunday's PSAC championship game on the road at Lock Haven starting at 1 p.m. The Bald Eagles won their semifinal game, 4-0, over Indiana (PA). Edinboro ends its season with a mark of 11-5-1.
The Fighting Scots, making their first PSAC playoff appearance, controlled play in the early going, keeping the ball in the Bloomsburg end for nearly all of the opening 20 minutes of play. On three occasions Edinboro had breakaway opportunities, only to have the ball knocked away by the Huskies' Andrea Bauer (Randolph, NJ/Randolph).
Bloomsburg finally was able to get control of the ball with about 10 minutes left in the opening half and worked the ball down into scoring position.
The Huskies' then scored the game's only goal when Balthaser, the school's all-time leader in assists, delivered a ball to the top corner of the box. From there, Williams, the second leading scorer for the team this year, then lofted a ball over the head of Edinboro's goalkeeper, Amy Stevens, and into the left corner of the goal for the score. The goal was the 13th of the season for the junior forward.
In the second half, the Huskies and Fighting Scots battled in the middle of the field for most of the time. Edinboro did not get off a shot in the final 45 minutes of play, while the Huskies managed one very good scoring opportunity with 6:20 left on the clock. Williams make a pass to a cutting Balthaser whose shot went high over the goal.
Bloomsburg goalie Heather Hartman increased her school-record single season shutout mark to 12 after making three saves.
The Huskies will be making their fifth appearance in the PSAC title game.
| Bloomsburg vs. Edinboro | at: Bloomsburg, PA | Date: Oct. 31, 2001 | ||||||
| 1st | 2nd | Final | Overall Record | |||||
| EDINBORO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11-5-1 | ||||
| BLOOMSBURG | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15-2-1 | ||||
| Scoring | ||||||||
| Team | Goal (Assist) | Time | Score | |||||
| BU | Renee Williams (Alea Balthaser) | 36:25 | 1-0 | |||||
| Goalkeeping | ||||||||
| Name | Team | Mins | Saves | Goals Allowed | ||||
| Heather Hartman | BU | 90 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Amy Stevens | EUP | 90 | 9 | 1 | ||||
| Team Statistics | BU | Opp | ||||||
| Shots | 16 | 3 | ||||||
| Corners | 4 | 1 | ||||||