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Saint Rose women’s soccer presented with 2021 National Finalist rings – troyrecord

ALBANY, NY – On Wednesday afternoon the Saint Rose women’s soccer team was presented with their 2021 NCAA Division II National Finalist rings.

The 2021 Golden Knights achieved an 18-2-4 overall record, en route to a National Championship game appearance at Switchbacks FC Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“It’s very exciting. We worked so hard last season to get where we got,” said Mia Klammer, who led the team with 14 goals and 34 points, as a freshman, last season. “We all really wanted this ring to show everybody that we put in the work, we put in the effort, and we got to where we needed to go. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but we got there.”

Saint Rose dropped a 3-2 decision in double overtime to Grand Valley State in the Division II National Championship game. The game-winning goal scored on a play Saint Rose deemed to be offsides but it was not reviewable and Grand Valley took home the national title.

“Definitely it was my motivation over the summer, every single day,” said third year student and sophomore captain Jada Brown. “I would always say, it’s time to get up. It’s time to work out. We got to get back to where we need to be. Sometimes you need to be a goldfish (short memory), but sometimes you have to use it as fuel. You have to use it as motivation to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.”

Saint Rose defeated Dallas Baptist by a score of 2-1 in the national semifinals. They also won the 2021 Northeast-10 conference championship.

“To be able to open them alongside all of our teammates, it truly showed how much hard work, effort and coming together really pays off in the long run,” Brown said of the moment she and her teammates saw their rings. “Being together, it made us relive everything we’ve been through.”

The Saint Rose coaches kept the ring ceremony a surprise until the very last minute, including mentioning to the media in the press release about the event that the players were unaware they’d be receiving their rings.

The ceremony on the campus quad included remarks from Athletic Director Lori Anctil, President Marcia White and Head Coach Laurie Darling Gutheil. Both White and Anctil reflected on their trip to Colorado Springs with the team for the national championship. Darling Gutheil then read off players’ names, who received their rings from assistant coach and Saint Rose alum, Morgan Burchardt.

“The amount of effort and time that your coaches invest in you and you invest in the program, it feels good to know what you do doesn’t go unnoticed,” Brown added.