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Top-seeded CCSU used a brace from All-NEC first teamer Erica Bardes to take down Sacred Heart, 3-1 and move on to Sunday's final where it will meet second-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson. The Knights advanced to the championship with a convincing 2-0 performance over Bryant, highlighted by sophomores Lea Egner and Paula Reuss each scoring to go along with a clean slate by NEC Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Amanda Fitzgerald. This sets up a 1 vs. 2 battle on Sunday with the NEC title at stake. Kickoff is at 1 pm. The match can be viewed for free on NEC Front Row or on NEC on the Run streaming and mobile apps for iOS and Andrioid devices.

#1 CCSU 3, #4 Sacred Heart 1
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New Britain, CT -- A pair of NEC all-stars came up big when it counted most for top-seeded Central Connecticut in the NEC women's soccer semifinals on Friday.

Junior defender Erica Bardes (Montvale, NJ/Pascaak Hills) scored twice, sandwiching goals around a tally from senior middie Emily Hogan (Warwick, RI/Bishop Feehan) to defeat fourth-seeded Sacred Heart, 3-1, and advance to the NEC Women’s Soccer championship match on Sunday.

The Blue Devils came out strong in the first half on their home turf, outshooting the Pioneers seven to two, but the Pioneers were up for the challenge with rookie goalkeeper Elyssa Kipperman (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) collecting four saves.  
 
Bardes, one of five Blue Devils to notch an All-NEC First team honor, was the first to find the net in the game, scoring off of a behind-the-back, no look pass from Hogan in the 24th minute for her third goal of the season. 
 
The Pioneers’ were able to level the score right before the half in the 44^th minute when freshman and All-NEC second teamer Meadow Mancini (Watertown, CT/Watertown) redirected a corner kick by Nichol Green (Shamong, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) into the net with a header.
 
It was an active second half for the Blue Devils, who controlled possesion while peppering the Pioneers with 15 more shots.

Hogan broke the stalemate, sending a bullet bar-down past Kipperman to give Central Connecticut a 2-1 advantage in the 57th minute. Only three minutes later, Bardes would help secure the championship trip for the Blue Devils, netting a one-touch off of an assist from the 2019 NEC Midfielder of the Year, Roma McLaughlin (Donegal, Ireland/Moville Community College).

Shauny Alterisio (Danbury, CT/Immaculate) - the 2019 NEC Defensive Player of the Year - and the Blue Devils' back line held the Pioneers to only three shots the entire game, compared to 22 for the Blue Devils.

Kipperman had eight saves in the match for the Pios.

CCSU will attempt to win its tenth NEC title on Sunday, and eighth under six-time NEC Coach of the Year Mick D'Arcy.

#2 Fairleigh Dickinson 2, #3 Bryant 0
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New Britain, CT -- In a tight battle for the second in Sunday’s NEC women's soccer title match, second-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson pitched the shutout with a 2-0 win over third-seeded Bryant in New Britain, CT.

Sophomores Lea Egner (Oberboihingen, Germany/Johann-Freidrich-Vonn-Cotta) and Paula Reuss (Affalterbach, Germany/Johann-Freidrich-Vonn-Cotta) paved the way for the Knights with a goal apiece.
 
NEC Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Amanda Fitzgerald (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) was tested early on in the game for the Knights and was up to the challenge, saving a penalty kick in the 24^th minute to keep the game scoreless.
 
Egner struck first in the match, finding a way to net an off-balance, low shot past NEC Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Meghan Dalton (West Hartford, CT/Kingswood Oxford School) in the 36^th minute. The goal was Egner’s fourth of the season.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson struck again in the second half when sophomore defender Reuss put in a rebound off a corner kick by Maja Skansberg (Stockholm, Sweden/Blackebergs Gymnasium), sending a strong shot past Dalton top shelf.
 
The Knights snapped the Bulldogs' 12-match unbeaten streak (8-0-4) en route to punching a ticket to Sunday's conference final.

Fitzgerald collected seven saves to post her eighth clean sheet of the year, tying the program record.