The Bruins played their first match of the NCCAA DII national tournament today in Kissimmee, Florida. The Bruins won the at-large bid for the 2013 national tournament after finishing the regular season 12-5-2. Their opponent would be the Providence University College Pilots from Manitoba, Canada. The Pilots came into the national tournament with the #1 ranking after finishing the season with a dominant 13-3 record.

The national tournament would place the six teams into two separate groupings. #4 Bob Jones University, #1 Providence University College and #5 Ohio Christian University comprised group A, while #2 Clearwater Christian College, #6 Cairn University and #3 Maranatha Baptist Bible College made up the B grouping.

The Providence Pilots had squeaked out a 2-1 victory over Ohio Christian on Wednesday night. The Bruins were entering their first match of the tournament as they took the field under the sunny Florida sky.

The Bruins came out strong in the opening minutes and controlled possession. The team executed crisp passing and great ball movement as they spread the field and worked through their offensive progressions. Having scouted Providence for the first time on Wednesday night, the Bruins had a very specific game plan to try to gain the advantage.

In the 9th minute of play, Deanna Howard sent a beautiful lead pass to Rebecca Luttrell who dribbled past the Pilots defender and placed a laser shot into the lower right corner of the goal to give the Bruins an early 1-0 lead. The Bruins were not content to settle and continued to pressure the Pilots net. The Bruins outshot Providence 13-2 in the first half.

The Bruins had several near-goal chances from Rebecca Luttrell and Spencer Martin, but their shots sailed just wide to keep the game 1-0 at the break.

"We had a great possession game going which helped us open the field up a bit," Coach Carmichael said. "We knew we were the underdogs in this situation against a good team but we knew we needed to worry about playing our game to come out strong and fast." 

In the second half, the Pilots came out strong in the opening minutes looking for the equalizer. In the 55th minute of play, Spencer Martin made some great moves to dribble around two defenders and work into a small clearing just outside the box. She lofted a beautiful bending shot which curved just over the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper and into the net to put the Bruins up 2-0.

The team continued to control possession and the Bruins defense kept the Pilots from getting anything going offensively. The Pilots managed only one real threat on goal which was handled nicely by Tori Anderson for the save. The back line of Caitlyn Lehman, Sarah Iwanowycz and Deanna Howard helped to fortify the defensive wall and transition the ball up to the attacking third. 

The Bruins extended their lead in the 80th minute when Annie Ubben drove home a shot after a deflection to give the Bruins a comfortable 3-0 lead. Sarah Porch put the exclamation point on the Bruins dominant game in the 88th minute with a goal to secure the 4-0 upset victory over the #1 seeded Pilots. 

"I am very proud of these girls," Coach Carmichael said. "They are such a great group and kept fighting all the way to the end. We aren't taking anything for granted and tomorrow we are going to come out hard again."   

The Bruins offense outshot the Pilots 20-4 throughout the match. Rebecca Luttrell, Spencer Martin, Annie Ubben and Sarah Porch all scored for the team while Deanna Howard picked up the only assist. Tori Anderson completed her 9th clean sheet of the season. Providence University had averaged a dominant 5 goals a game this season, but the Bruins defense held the high-powered Pilots in check the whole game. 

The team got a special added boost with several parents and fans from BJU in attendance. Even BJU President Stephen Jones and his wife Erin came to cheer the Bruins to victory. 

The Bruins picked up 3 points with the win and gave themselves an advantage moving forward in their group play. The Bruins will play their second match of their grouping tomorrow afternoon against #5 Ohio Christian University at 2:30 p.m. The Bruins and Trailblazers met once earlier this season, with the Bruins winning in a close 1-0 game.  

Follow the @bjubruins Twitter account for live tweets of the match tomorrow afternoon or watch the game webcast (for a fee) at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/tourbeau.portal#.