Women’s Soccer Selected to NCAA Tournament

NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack women’s soccer team has been selected to the NCAA Tournament and will take on Bridgeport in a first round matchup on Friday at C.W. Post.

This marks the ninth NCAA appearance in Merrimack history and the seventh in the last eight years.

Led by All-Conference first team selections Gabrielle Gramprey (Brockton, MA) and Jennifer Conway (Douglas, MA) and the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year Gabe Mejail, the Warriors earned the fifth seed in the East Region.

Other teams in the region include Franklin Pierce, C.W. Post, Saint Rose, Bridgeport and Georgian Court.

If Merrimack defeats the Purple Knights, they will take on C.W. Post on Sunday in the second round. Times of the games will be announced later this week.

The Warriors (12-4-2, 10-3-1 NE-10) finished the regular season in third place before being upset by UMass Lowell 1-0 in overtime in the conference quarterfinals. Currently ranked 25th in the nation, they have not played since November 2.

Gramprey leads the Warriors in scoring with 13 goals and 34 points, while midfielder Jackie Vickers (Norwell, MA) has chipped in with three goals and seven assists for 13 points. From September 27 to October 21, Merrimack won seven straight games, outscoring its opponents 18-2. Shannon Rowan (Fair Haven, NJ), a second-team all-conference honoree, has started all 18 matches in goal, posting a 1.05 goals-against, a .808 save percentage, and seven shutouts.

Bridgeport heads into the NCAA Tournament with a 16-4-1 overall record. On Sunday, the Purple Knights lost a 1-0 decision to C.W. Post in the East Coast Conference Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament Final. Just one week earlier, the Purple Knights defeated the Pioneers, 2-1, to hand the Pioneers its only conference loss of the regular season.

Bridgeport and Merrimack have met six times in the past with the Warriors posting a 6-0-0 advantage. The last time the two teams faced each other was in 1995.

Last season, Merrimack earned the fourth seed and defeated UMass Lowell 1-0 in the first round in Albany, NY before losing to Saint Rose 3-1 in the second round.