by TOM UTESCHER

"And the world did gaze in deep amaze at those fearless [wo]men but few,

Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew" Irish Traditional

Oh, alright... The damp waves of fog were rolling in off of the Hudson River, not Dublin's Liffey, and the event was a collegiate women's soccer game, not Ireland's Easter Rising of 1916.

Still, it was a historic occasion for Chestnut Hill College, which just formed a soccer squad this year, then proceeded to go undefeated in the Atlantic Women's College Conference, win the conference championship, and become the first CHC team in any sport to earn a bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

The Griffins (16-2-1) made their NCAA debut in a first-round game on November 12, squaring off against the Ducks of the Stevens Institute of Technology, a school located on the banks of the Hudson in Hoboken, NJ. Stevens (14-6-1) had just won its fourth straight championship in the Skyline Conference, which is based in the metropolitan New York area.

Through much of the first half, it was literally impossible to see the far sideline from the scorer's table at fieldside. Still, the hosts were able to cut through the haze to deposit two goals in the Griffins' cage. In the second half, visibility improved, but the outlook still remained cloudy for CHC, as Stevens added three more goals and wrapped up a 5-0 victory that moved the Ducks through into the regional tournament.

A total of 19 teams had earned byes for the first round, while 26 others, including CHC and Stevens, played for the right to advance into one of four eight-team regional tourneys in the NCAA.

"They were just too strong for us," CHC coach Shawn Ferris remarked after the Griffins' match. "I was pleased with how we played in the first half, but in the second half they opened it up on us and got a lot of shots on goal."

Stevens coach Jeff Parker said of CHC, "They've done a great job; they're a first-year program and they came in here 16-1-1. We're a young program too, just a little ahead of them. They're where we were two years ago."

CHC's postseason run began on its home field with an 11-0 victory over Wilson College in the opening round of the AWCC playoffs. From there it was on to the AWCC final four tournament, held at Notre Dame Prep in Baltimore on November 8 and 9.

In their semifinal match against Mary Baldwin, Baltimore area native Morgan Nichols scored twice to give the Griffins a 2-0 halftime lead. CHC cruised to a 5-0 win as Mandi Steffen, Erin Bagdasarian and Ashley Throckmorton reinforced the locals' lead.

Next, Chestnut Hill set about ending the College of Notre Dame's five-year reign as the AWCC champion. Maureen Dugan put the Griffins on the board midway through the first period, but the Gators tied it up shortly before the intermission. In the first minute of the second stanza, a long throw-in by Ashley Stankiewicz set up a second goal by Dugan, and this time the Griffins made the lead stand up for a 2-1 victory.

With the conference title came an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and the Griffins packed their bags for North Jersey. Ironically, the two Stevens players who did the most damage to CHC in its first-round loss are both juniors who hail from Southeastern PA. Kim Mirra, from Sun Valley High School in Aston, and Val Barnhart, from Boyertown High School, each scored twice for the Ducks.

"Barnhart could've gone Division One easily," noted CHC's Ferris. "She wanted that particular school for the location and for the engineering major."

Shortly before game time, the river mist floated in. For Philadelphians, the scene seemed eerily reminiscent of the Eagles' fabled "fog bowl" game in Chicago during the 1988-89 NFL playoffs.

The home crowd, gathered on balconies outside Stevens' athletic center, could be heard, but not seen, from the team benches when Mirra punched in a cross from the right by Milia George to put the Ducks on the board. The goal went on the board with 9:07 elapsed, and with 19 minutes left in the opening period Barnhart scored, picking up the rebound of a teammate's shot that bounced off Chestnut Hill's Stephanie Williams.

Dugan got off an outside shot for the Griffins with five minutes remaining, but it was off the mark, and Stevens still led 2-0 at the intermission.

Stevens had recently installed a "Soft Turf" artificial surface on its multi-use field, but the pitch felt considerably harder than the new types of turf that have been cropping up at colleges and high schools in the Philly area.

"It allows us to play a little quicker," said the Ducks' Parker, "and other teams generally aren't used to playing as quick."

The marking problems posed for CHC by the Ducks' forwards meant that when the Griffins were occasionally able to come upfield on a counter, they were usually outnumbered by Stevens' backs. Chestnut Hill's leading scorer, sophomore Annie Ruckdeschel, had missed all of the AWCC playoff games with a foot injury, and although she played at Stevens she said she was still feeling some pain from the malady. Through passes got to her occasionally, but she found herself alone amidst three or four Ducks defenders.

A little over six minutes into the second half, Barnhart extended the hosts' lead to 3-0, and after Jaimie Mehnert deposited a fourth goal, Mirra fired in a long-range missile from the right wing to complete the scoring with 14:20 left to play.

"We're a team that can score goals," observed Parker, "and we've been able to do that a lot of different ways."

For the night, the Ducks outshot the Griffins, 28-4. Krista Deflaviis made seven stops in the Chestnut Hill goal, while for Stevens Rommy Guevara recorded one save in the first period and Erica Midttveit turned aside two shots in the trailing half.

Once the Griffins get over their immediate sense of disappointment, they'll be able to look back fondly on what has been, by any measure, a remarkable season. The AWCC title and the NCAA appearance are bound to bring attention, and more good players, to the team.

Looking forward, Ferris said "We're strengthening our schedule so that we'll be a little more tested heading into postseason play. We had 13 freshmen on the team this year, and they'll be getting better with experience."

Matches with Stockton (NJ) State, Rowan University, and Rutgers-Newark have already been secured, and the CHC coach is looking to add Drew and Scranton, as well.

"All of those teams are in and out of the national top 25," he pointed out. "Our recruiting class for next year is shaping up to be very good, both in terms of incoming freshmen and college players who are looking to transfer. I would definitely say that the program now has a good foundation."