NEWBURGH, NY – Several Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues players are involved in conference playoff tournaments around the country in their quests to advance into the NCAA College Cup and fight for a national championship. 

Many names familiar to Lady Blues fans are on some of the top teams in the country and are legitimate conference and national contenders.

Amanda DaCosta, a native of Katonah, NY, and Erin McNulty helped lead the Florida State Seminoles past the Duke Blue Devils in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday, November 4 in Cary, NC. Both played the full 90 minutes for the Seminoles, with McNulty making four saves in the shutout performance and DaCosta assisting on the game-winning goal.

Then No. 3 Florida State (15-3-1) faced Virginia Tech University in the ACC semifinals on Friday, November 6^th.  A similar result, FSU won 2-0 on goals by Jessica Price and DeCosta. They also enjoyed a solid 45 minute performance from McNulty in goal, who made a save on they only shot she faced.

In the ACC championship match, played on Sunday, November 8^th, the North Carolina Tar Heels received a pair of goals from USL W-League side Cary Lady Clarets striker, Casey Nogueira in the first 13 minutes of play to give UNC its 20th league title in 22 years.

Across the county, Lady Blues midfielder Mercede Koning and Brigham Young University (16-2-2) nipped their hosts, New Mexico, 1-0 in the Mountain West Conference semifinals on Thursday, November 5. The tournament’s top two seeds faced one another in the finals on Saturday, November 7 with San Diego State (14-3-5) stealing a 1-0 decision from BYU despite being outshot 17-10. Koning played 74 minutes on defense in the loss.

In the south defender and 2009 Lady Blues co-captain Erica Campanelli was active in helping the University of Texas pull out a 1-0 double overtime victory over Colorado on Wednesday, November 4^th in the Big 12 quarterfinals.

“You come into this tournament with the mentality that you just don't want to go home,” Campanelli told texassports.com. “So we came out and put our bodies into everything. We played as hard as we could the whole game through.”

Texas played in-state rival Texas A&M in the semifinals on Friday evening, losing 5-1. Campanelli tallied the lone goal for UT in the loss, converting a penalty-kick in the 82^nd minute.

Also check out this video on Campanelli on Texas’ website: http://www.texassports.com/sports/w-soccer/tex-w-soccer-body.html.

Hudson Valley teammate and Big 12 opponent Whitney Palmer was also named to the All-Big 12 First Team after the junior forward broke Oklahoma’s single-season records in goals (15) and points (32).

Campbell Hall, NY, native Brittany Taylor and the University of Connecticut got the news they were hoping for yesterday, earning an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament after losing 4-1 on penalty kicks to Villanova in the first round of the Big East tournament on Oct. 29. The game was tied 1-1 before going to penalties. Connecticut will face Boston University in the first round of the NCAA tournament which begins on Friday, November 13.

After beating Saint Anselm on Sunday, November 1 in the NE-10 quarterfinals, Franklin Pierce University dropped UMASS-Lowell, 2-1 on Thursday, November 5 in the semifinals before falling to Saint Rose, 2-1 in the NE-10 Final. The No. 22 ranked team in Division II is led by Lady Blues striker and W-League Player of the Year Angelika Johansson, who was named to the NE-10 First Team for the third consecutive time this season. Franklin Pierce’s next opponent is Holy Family in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.