FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2018
Passion Advance To Semifinals With Victory Over New York
Both defenses seemed to have the upper hand early on Saturday night in Pittsburgh. The momentum shifted in the Passion’s favor after Kaitlain Niedermeyer recovered a fumble in New York territory which was followed by an Arielle Smith 8 yard touchdown run to get the Passion on the board first. The defense continued to build the momentum on the next New York drive as Rebecca Ehrgood intercepted the pass and returned it to the New York 28-yard line which helped lead to an Angela Baker 1-yard touchdown run. The Passion defense would add another touchdown in the first half as Devon Conner returned an interception 45-yards to give Pittsburgh the 20-0 lead at the half.
The Passion would open up the scoring in the 2nd half as Baker ran it in from 5-yards out for her second of the game. After New York ran one in on their next drive, the Passion answered right back on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Baker to Conner. Pittsburgh would add one more touchdown in the 4th Quarter on a 4-yard run by Kia Foster for the final score of 41-6.
Angela Baker led the way on offense passing for 223 yards and a touchdown while adding 48 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Arielle Smith and Kia Foster combined 89 rushing yards and each scored their first career playoff touchdown. Devon Conner had 82 receiving yards and a touchdown. Krystal Cozzo added 76 receiving yards.
The Passion defense held the New York offense in check for most of the night with tremendous pressure from the front seven and lock down secondary.
Linebacker Hannah Daman led the team with 9 tackles while Kaitlain Niedermeyer added 7 tackles and a fumble recovery and Franki Kilmer, Devon Conner, Tenisha Spencer and Rebecca Ehrgood combined for 19 tackles and each recorded an Interception.
The Passion will get this weekend off as they prepare to host one of the WFA Playoffs Semifinal matchups against the Detroit Dark Angels on June 29, 2019 at 7 pm at Joe P. DeMichela Stadium.
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