CRESSON, Pa. — Franciscan women's soccer finished regular season play with a 2-0 win against Mount Aloysius College, solidifying the team's first playoff qualification since the school restarted varsity athletics. The team ends their regular season with an 11-7 overall record and a 5-4 record in conference, also giving them the best record in program history.

"I'm just really proud of the girls," head coach Clare McBane said. "They played really well and stepped up to play even though we had a few injuries that we had to accommodate for today."

To deal with the injuries sophomore Lauren Stearman stepped in for freshman Megan Darcy to be the third player this season to play at that position. Stearman stepped in and assisted the first goal of the game. Her cross found junior Ashley Ruttencutter who finished the goal from her sweet spot in the top of the 18-yard box.

"Our offense had a lot more looks on goal than we normally do," McBane said. "We had a lot of really beautiful creative plays that were fueled from the midfield and were aided with the help of Stearman on the wing. She really had a great game."

The second goal came from junior Julia Cocozza who was also playing out of position at forward due to an injury to leading scorer Hannah Cooke. After missing on a handful of shots, Cocozza finally received a pass from fellow forward Jordan Byrley and took a solid shot that she placed beautifully into the side netting.

"Julia and Jordan are continuing to build and improve on the chemistry up top," McBane said.

On the defensive side the change in player positions came from junior Michele Volk who not only gave standout goalkeeper Mallory Garthwaite a rest but filled her shoes with skill. With the help of the defense who put up a hard fight against a talented Mt. Aloysius forward, Volk secured a shutout for Franciscan.

"Michele and Stearman really just impressed me today," McBane said. "Neither of them usually get a ton of playing time and today they played the full 90 minutes and made a huge difference."

With a whole team effort the Lady Barons move forward toward the play-offs. McBane said the Lady Barons goal at the beginning of the season was to make play-offs and now their dream is a reality.

"I just couldn't be more proud of them for setting their eyes on a goal ahead of them and then achieving it," McBane said.

The team will play Pitt-Greensburg on Saturday Nov. 2 in the first round of the AMCC playoffs. The location depends on the outcome of Greensburg's final game, if Greensburg defeats LaRoche College, they will host the match, if they lose Franciscan will host.