BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Northampton Women's Soccer team closed out the regular season with a 3-1 loss to Bucks County Community College on Tuesday afternoon at Spartan Field. The loss means that Northampton and Bucks will be declared
EPAC Co-Champions, as both finished with identical 5-1-0 records in conference play, each beating the other on their home field.
Jamie Apple opened the scoring for Bucks, 9 minutes into the contest, striking a hard shot to the corner, just past the outstretched arms of goaltender
Melissa Schnappauf (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth).
Four minutes later, the Spartans responded as
Kelsie Smith (Bangor, PA/Bangor) gathered an
Amanda Sroka (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) free kick in the box and deposited the ball in the net to tie the contest at 1-1.
The momentum was short-lived for Northampton, as Bucks took a 2-1 lead just 4 minutes later, keeping that advantage into halftime.
After the break, the teams played back and forth soccer, both with scoring opportunities, but neither team was able to capitalize until BCC's Brooklynn Smith slid a shot past Schnappauf (14 saves) to make the score 3-1 with under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
The Centurions out-shot Northampton 18 to 9.
The loss drops Northampton to 8-5-1 overall, 5-4-1 in Region XIX and 5-1 in conference play.
Bucks improves to 10-6-0 overall, 8-4-0 in Region XIX and 5-1 in the EPAC.
Both teams will now wait for the seeding for the upcoming Region XIX Tournament. Pairings will be announced on Wednesday by 1pm, with playoff competition opening on Saturday.
The Spartans honored 11 sophomores during halftime, who were playing their final home game:
Abby Dempsey (Bangor, PA/Faith Christian )
Samantha Borrell (Brodheadsville, PA /Faith Christian )
Tatiana Amador (Bethlehem, PA /Liberty )
Mariah Rodriguez (Lebanon, PA /Lebanon )
Natalie Bonneau (Pocono Mt., PA/Pocono Mt. East )
Alexis McKenna (Easton, PA /Easton )
Amanda Sroka (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth)
Jadelyn Rodriguez (Allentown, PA/William Allen )
Briana Daza (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth)
Catera Simpson (Surrattsville, MD/Surrattsville (MD))
Melissa Schnappauf (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth)
