10/31/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – After nearly three weeks away from action, Lackawanna College women's soccer is set for the postseason in Region XIX DII play.
 
The #3-seeded Falcons will travel to take on the #2-seeded Essex County College Wolverines on Thursday, October 31^st, at 4:00pm ET, from the new turf field at the West Essex campus in West Caldwell, NJ. The match will have a video livestream available for those who cannot attend, via the Essex Athletics – Wolverines TV YouTube Channel, linked HERE.
 
This is the second match-up of the season between the Falcons and the Wolverines. Both teams played against one another on Saturday, October 5^th, at Schautz Stadium in Dunmore, which the visiting squad from Essex won by a 3-2 margin. Essex had a 2-0 lead early in the first half, but the Falcons battled back to tie things up at 2-all heading into the break. Essex found a breakthrough goal about 15 minutes into the second half, then held on for the victory over Lackawanna.
 
About The Falcons
Lackawanna College (2-4-0) hast not been in action since a 3-0 loss to Sussex County CC on October 15^th, 16 days ago. The Falcons were shorthanded in that contest, fell behind 2-0 at halftime, and gave up a goal late to the Skylanders deep in the second half, sending Lackawanna to its third straight defeat to close out the regular season.
 
In six games this season, the Falcons have scored eleven goals and given up 23. After giving up eleven goals in an opening season loss to Hagerstown, the Falcons have only surrendered 12 goals in five games. Lackawanna has given up ten goals in its last three games, which includes two shut-outs. Opponents have put about half their shots, 44%, on target this season, while the Falcons have put 47% of their shots on frame.
 
First-year forward Melanie Shumway (Rome, PA) leads the Falcons with six goals and one assist. Shumway has 20 shots on goal this year and is the biggest scoring threat up front for the Falcons. She had a hattrick in the 7-1 at Lehigh Carbon CC. Shumway was a standout performer at Northeast Bradford HS before coming to Lackawanna. Shumway scored the go-ahead goal in the second half against Sussex earlier this season, and of course had the two goals for the Falcons in their loss to Essex on October 5^th. Melanie received two yellows in that game, meaning she had to leave the field late in the second half, and missed the next game against Sussex, so she has not played since October 5^th.
 
Lindsey Tasker (Clarks Summit, PA) is the main keeper for the Falcons this season, and has three goals this year, two coming via penalty kick. Tasker had eleven saves in the loss to Hagerstown and put up 21 saves against Mercer County CC back on 9/28. Tasker was inserted into the goalkeeper spot her senior season at Abington Heights HS, helping the Lady Comets get all the way to the state championship game. Tasker had eight saves against Essex on 10/5. In her last game, Tasker spent the first half out in the field for the Falcons, then the second half in goal against Sussex. She gave up a goal and had four saves.
 
Midfielder Autumn Frederick (Etters, PA) has a goal in six appearances so far, scoring in the second half of the win against Lehigh Carbon. Frederick is a versatile mid with the ability to drop into defense or play up in a forward spot. She had three shots, two on target, but didn't score in the loss to Essex. Autumn had four shots, two on target, but did not score against Sussex in her last outing.
 
Fellow mid Chloe Stafursky (Peckville, PA) also has a goal so far this season, scoring against Lehigh Carbon. Stafursky was a multi-sport athlete at nearby Valley View HS. Stafursky has three shots, two on target this year. She actually had the ball in the back of the net against Essex, but the play was called back for being offside. Stafursky did not record a shot in the loss to Sussex on October 15^th.
 
Returners Sandra Diaz-Torres (Scranton, PA) and Chelsea Huegel (Scranton, PA) populate the midfield, while returners Pamela Paulino (Scranton, PA) and Sophia Mandarano (Dunmore, PA) are on defense. Paulino and Mandarano are joined by Emma Scalese, who was an all-star defender for Holy Cross HS locally in Northeast PA.
 
Late on Tuesday, the Region XIX DI/DII All-Region teams were announced, and both Shumway and Scalese were voted by the coaches to be on the first team.
 
The head coach, now in his second season at the helm, is Dan Badyrka. Coach Badyrka took over the program midway through the 2022-2023 scholastic year, rehabbed the Falcons to be able to compete in a handful of games last season, and now believes his squad is ready to take a big step forward in 2024. Badyrka spent the previous three years before Lackawanna at nearby Dunmore HS, coaching the varsity girls soccer team. Under his guidance, the Lady Bucks won 19 games and made the district playoff semi-finals in all three seasons. Badyrka was an assistant with the Abington Travel Club before his time at Dunmore and has been working at various youth levels in soccer for the last 15 years.
 
About Essex County College
The Wolverines (4-6-1) are the #2 seed in the tournament, by virtue of their wins over Sussex (2-0) and Lackawanna (3-2). The defending champion from a year ago, Essex does come in on a two-game slide, having dropped an 8-1 decision to RCSJ Gloucester back on October 17^th, and then an 11-0 loss to Harcum on October 22^nd. It's been nine days since the Wolverines played a game.
 
On the year, Essex has given up 56 goals in eleven matches, while scoring 20. Almost all of Essex's goals (17 of 20) have come via an assist. Essex has had to make 95 saves this year.
 
First-year player Ilana Lashley leads the team with eleven goals and two assists this season. Lashley has three games with multiple goals, including a hattrick in the first game of the year, the 7-0 win over Brookdale. She added an assist against the Jersey Blues, then had two goals and an assist in Essex's 4-3 victory against Five Towns College. Lashley had two first half goals in the victory against Lackawanna College on 10/5. That started a stretch where she scored a goal in four straight games. She did not score in the loss to Harcum on 10/22. Lashley was named to the Region XIX DI/DII All-Region first team this week.
 
Sophomore Nisrine Taalba is second on the Wolverines with three goals and a team-best four assists this season. Taalba had two goals in the win against Five Towns on 9/24, and she scored a goal and had an assist in the win against Brookdale to open the year. Taalba has not scored since that game against Five Towns. She did have assists on both goals in the 2-0 win against Sussex on 10/12. She had three shots, two on target, but no goals in the win at Lackawanna on 10/5. She did not record a shot in the loss to Harcum. Taalba was named to the Region XIX DI/DII All-Region first team this week.
 
First-year player Diane Chouna has two goals this season, one being the game winner in the 61^st minute against Lackawanna College on 10/5. Her other goal came in the opener against Brookdale back on September 12^th. She did not record a shot in the loss to Harcum.
 
Sophomore Tiffany Escobar has two goals and three assists this season. Escobar had two goals and two assists in the win against Brookdale to start the season. She missed three straight games in the beginning of October, including the win at Lackawanna, but came back against Gloucester, assisting the only goal for the Wolverines on the day. She did not register a shot against Harcum.
 
First-year goalkeeper Marie Telusma has started and played in all eleven contests for the Wolverines this year. Telusma has 95 saves, averaging 8.6 per contest, and has surrendered 56 goals this season. She has five games with double-digit saves, her best coming against Mercer on 9/21, where she had 16 saves. Telusma has two clean sheets, the win against Brookdale and the victory over Sussex on 10/12. She had nine saves against Harcum last week. Against Lackawanna, she had five saves in the win.
 
The head coach for the Wolverines is Monique Edouard, who has been a mainstay for a long time in the ECC athletics family as the head coach for the women's program. Edouard has had countless excellent seasons at Essex, including last year's Region XIX DII championship squad, where Essex defeated Mercer 2-1, despite losing to the Vikings 7-2 earlier in the season. Edouard has won four region championships since 2013 for the Wolverines (2013, 2014, 2017, 2023).
 
The Match-Up
The Region XIX semi-final is set for a 4:00pm ET start on Thursday, October 31^st, from the new turf field at the West Essex campus in West Caldwell, NJ. The match will have a video livestream available for those who cannot attend, via the Essex Athletics – Wolverines TV YouTube Channel, linked HERE.
 
The winner of the match will advance to play the winner of the other semi-final which will also be contested at 4:00pm ET on Thursday, between top-seed Mercer County CC and #4 Sussex County CC. The winners from each game will play in the Region XIX DII championship, being held at 11:00am ET on Saturday, November 2^nd, at Mercer County CC's soccer field in West Windsor Twp., NJ.