Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Contributed

The Pfeiffer University women’s soccer team has earned a spot in the 2019 ECAC Division III Women’s Soccer Championship.

Seeded second in pod one, Pfeiffer will take on the third-seeded Shenandoah Hornets at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Green Terror Soccer Complex on the campus of McDaniel College in Westminster, Md.

Shenandoah currently stands at 11-8 on the season and finished 6-4 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).

Top-seeded and host McDaniel College will take on fourth-seeded Penn State-Bherend in the other match in pod one at 11 a.m.

Play in the 16-team single-elimination tournament gets underway on Saturday. Teams were placed in four-team pods, with pod winners advancing to the ECAC Semifinals Nov. 23. Semifinal winners will then battle for the ECAC Championship Nov. 24.

The Falcons enter first-round play as winners in seven of their past eight matches. The lone loss in that span came in a 2-1 match at North Carolina Wesleyan Oct. 19.

Pfeiffer is led by Mackenzie Pruitt. The sophomore from Havelock has netted nine goals on the season and has also supplied five assists.

Junior teammate Cayci Eaton from Harrisburg has contributed eight goals and three assists for the Falcons.

Other players to watch include junior All-USA South selection Meredith Manson, sophomores Kelsy Eqsuivel and Dayanna Riero and junior All-USA South midfielder Gabby Bosak.

Hailey Metzger, another All-USA South selection, will anchor the Falcon midfield.

Manson has netted five goals on the season as a defender, including the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Greensboro College Oct. 23 that captured the USA South East Division crown, the first team title since Pfeiffer joined the league three seasons ago.

Esquivel also has five goals to her credit while Riera has four goals and an assist. Bosak leads Pfeiffer in assists with seven and also has one goal to her credit.

Additionally, Pfeiffer boasts all-conference selections in Morgan Cecil and senior goalkeeper Kaley Hyatt.

Hyatt was also named the USA South Goalkeeper of the Year after finishing the season with an 11-3 record and a 0.71 goals against average during the regular season.