GREENSBURG, Pa – Two goals from team captain Julia Cocozza and another from junior Jordan Byrley gave Lady Baron soccer their first playoff win in program history with a redemptive 3-1 win over Pitt – Greensburg.

Almost exactly a month earlier, Franciscan played one of its worst games of the season in a 1-0 home loss to Greensburg. Despite playing like the better squad, FUS struggled to finish on scoring opportunities and left the field disappointed. The first round of the AMCC playoffs gave them a second chance to prove themselves.

"I told the girls that as the record stood, Pitt-Greensburg was the better team," head coach Clare McBane said. "If they wanted to change that fact, they were going to have to come out one-hundered percent and we had to come out hot."

Effort and focus were two things the Lady Barons didn't lack from the very start. The chemistry between junior midfielder Ashley Ruttencutter, Cocozza, and Byrley consistently broke down the Bobcat defense.

It was Cocozza, playing forward for the third time all year, who found the back of the net first. About twenty minutes in, the junior was able to control a cross-field pass from Ruttencutter, drive to the net, sidestep the oncoming keeper, and place a shallow angle shot into the center of the net.

A second ball from Ruttencutter early in the second half found the team's other forward, Byrley, who found a gap between the goalkeeper and the post to give Franciscan a 2-0 lead.

"I was really nervous about how long it would take Julia and Jordan to build the chemistry up top," McBane said about switching Cocozza to forward two games earlier after an injury to leading scorer Hannah Cooke. "What was beautiful was there ability to play off of each other and find each other. They've just been playing phenomenally well."

It was Cocozza again who gave Franciscan a comfortable 3-0 lead with sixteen minutes left, diving to ouch-reach a defender at the top of the penalty box and place a line-drive shot into the left side of the net. Despite a penalty kick goal from the Bobcats with three minutes left, the Lady Barons were able to hold on for their first ever playoff win.

"The energy that came off that field and the excitement, is just out of this world; priceless," Cocozza said about the feeling of winning a playoff game. "Our offense is just flowing. We all just easily connect."

The FUS defense also held strong, limiting Greensburg to mostly long shot attempts. Center defender Mary Duran played particularly well while helping to direct Joanna Dawyot, who took over at the other central position after Calene Dougherty went out with an injury at the half.

The team continues to play, and win in honor of former teammate Amanda Looman who died earlier in the year. Both Cocozza and McBane said that having her in their hearts has made the team's best season ever, even more meaningful.

"Soccer, if you're doing it right, is so much greater than yourself," McBane said. "Amanda will always be a teammate to us and you want to do your teammates proud. She's with us. She is absolutely with us."

The Lady Baron's next task will be a game against to conference's top team, and defending champion Penn St. - Behrend in the semi-finals. Franciscan pushed the Lady Lions into overtime in the regular season, coming closer than any conference team to beating them, but eventually lost 2-1.

The two teams will play on Wednesday, November 6 at 2:30 at Penn St. - Behrend.