Emma Sweitzer led the way as the Misericordia University women’s soccer team rose to No. 1 in the country and carried an unbeaten record all the way to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III national quarterfinals before falling to No. 2 Johns Hopkins, 2-0, Sunday.
The junior midfielder/forward from Dallas was the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Offensive Player of the Year and ranked among the national scoring leaders for the second straight year.
Sweitzer broke her own school single-season scoring records, surpassing the number from last season’s MAC Freedom Rookie of the Year performance.
Misericordia finished 21-1-1.
Sweitzer started every game and finished with 24 goals and 16 assists. She ended the regular season on an eight-game scoring streak and had eight multi-goal games, including two hat tricks.
Last season, Sweitzer finished fourth in the nation with 23 goals and set the school record of 58 points while earning second-team All-American honors. She topped that point total by four.
Sweitzer was tied for seventh nationally in goals and alone in ninth in points per game this season.
Misericordia had six District 2 graduates on its roster, using local Back Mountain talent to help rise to the top national ranking.
Esabella Mendola was a first-year back from Wilkes-Barre Area, who played some of her youth travel and club soccer in the Back Mountain.
Olivia Maniskas, a first-year midfielder, is another Dallas graduate.
Sophomores Emma Stroud, a goalkeeper, and Madison Brdaric, a forward, are Lake-Lehman graduates.
Carly Cavanaugh, a Holy Redeemer graduate, is a junior back from Dallas.
Mendola played in all 23 games, making 16 starts.
Maniskas also played in every game, coming off the bench in all but one in which she started. She had four goals and four assists.
Stroud appeared in 11 games as a back-up goalie. She had an 0.69 goals against average and .833 save percentage, allowing just 2 goals while making 10 saves in 261:18.
Cavanaugh played in 12 games and had an assist.
Brdaric made three starts.
Misericordia’s 22-game unbeaten streak to start the season included a 2-0 victory over the University of Scranton in Saturday’s Sweet 16 round while hosting the weekend action.
