Box Score
The Lady Bruins soccer team scored 6 goals in the final 32 minutes of play to come away with a dominant 6-0 victory over #3 Dallas Christian College in the opening game of the NCCAA National Tournament. "It was an amazing 2nd half for us," Coach Chris Carmichael said. "Every player stepped up big for us tonight in this game." 

 

The Bruins came into the tournament as the #2 seed after winning the South region championship in a thrilling double-overtime penalty shootout over Toccoa Falls College. The team finished the regular season at 9-9 but stormed through the regional playoff to give them a trip back to the NCCAA National tournament. The Lady Bruins won the title in 2013. The Dallas Christian College Crusaders finished their 2015 season by winning the Midwest region championship. 

As the match began, the Bruins came out with good possession and controlled the tempo early on. The team was able to generate several good scoring chances, but each shot sailed wide as the team failed to score. Defensively, the Bruins allowed few opportunities to score as the defense stood strong. As the buzzer sounded, the Bruins and Crusaders ended the half as they began with a 0-0 score. 

"We played a solid first half and had a number of opportunities," Coach Carmichael said. "We just couldn't find the net. Work rate was good but we just rushed things a bit too much." 

Coach Carmichael made some halftime adjustments as the team had just 45 more minutes to decide this game. The Bruins picked up where they left off in the possession game and controlled the pace of play. The team began to use their combination play to move into the attacking third. In the 58th minute, Paige Englehart finally broke through and buried a shot into the back of the net to put the team up 1-0. The team continued to ride the momentum and pressure the Crusaders net. In the 63rd minute, Jenn Wise rifled a shot past the keeper to put the Bruins up 2-0. 

The team refused to quit as the Bruins were firing on all cylinders offensively and defensively. In the 80th minute of play, Abby Davis was fouled giving the Bruins a free kick opportunity. Martin bent a pass into the middle which was deflected into the goal by Lauren Foushee to give the Bruins a 3-0 advantage. The team continued to keep the pressure up, as just minutes later Grace Hoffman carried the ball down the sidelines and after dancing around her defender, was fouled just inside the box. Spencer Martin took a confident penalty kick to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead. In the final 4 minutes of the match, the Bruins got two more goals as Mimi Lozano and Anna Daulton scored as the team stormed to a 6-0 shutout of Dallas Christian College. 

"The players are confident and fired up," Coach Carmichael said. "We made some adjustments at halftime and the team executed perfectly and we got some great goals. We're ready to play another match tomorrow." 

The Bruins had six different goal scorers in the game as Englehart, Wise, Lozano, Daulton, Martin and Foushee all scored while the team completed the clean sheet. The tournament is arranged in a pool play setup so the Bruins will play their 2nd game in their grouping tomorrow night as they battle #6 seeded Kentucky Christian University at 5 p.m.