The 15^th-ranked Misericordia University women's soccer team begins their quest for a third straight Freedom Conference Championship on Wednesday night, as they host Delaware Valley at Mangelsdorf Field at 7:00.
 
The Cougars enter the Freedom Championships as the #2-seed after finishing the season tied with DeSales University atop the conference standings at 6-0-1. Delaware Valley is the #3-seed after finishing their season 6-10-2, including a 3-3-1 record in the Freedom Conference.
 
Meghan Mahoney led the Cougars in their 2-0 regular season victory over the Aggies, notching a goal and an assist on October 10 in Doylestown. Erin McGreal had MU's other goal while Kylen Smith added an assist.
 
The winner of Wednesday night's game moves on to face the winner of the conference's other semifinal match between #1-seed DeSales and #4-seed King's, Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed at a time that has yet to be determined.
 
The Cougars finished their regular season slate with an overall record of 15-2-1, including a 6-0-1 mark in in the Freedom, following a 2-2 tie at DeSales on Friday afternoon. MU has outscored their opponents 56-9 over 18 matches.
 
MU is making their sixth consecutive appearance in the Fredom Conference semifinals and has also appeared in three straight NCAA Division III tournaments, including a trip to the Final Four in 2012 and the Sweet 16 in 2013.
 
Mahoney (14g, 9a) leads the Cougars on offense with 37 points while Meghan Antrim (15g, 1a) follows with 31 points.
 
McGreal and Amber Hartranft add six goals each while Jacqueline Stevens has five goals and Smith adds nine assists. Alex Gallagher adds three goals while Emily Szeflinski has two goals.
 
The Cougars defense has been terrific this season, allowing just nine goals. Maureen Ciccosanti leads MU in net with six shutouts and 0.50 goals against average in 18 games. Erin Roberts, Kristen Ritter, Devin Simpson and Alexa Alchevsky have all been key defensively for MU this season.
 
This is the Aggies first trip to the Freedom Conference Championships since falling 1-0 in the championship game in 2008 when they finished a school-best 14-4. Elisha Taney (6g, 3a) leads the Aggies on offense with 15 points while Nikki Dunlap follows with a team-high seven goals. Karla Keler and Keri Helmrich add four goals each while Mary Taylor has three goals and five assists. Claudia Winters leads the Aggies in goal, posting four shutouts and 1.22 goals against Average in 11 games