Box Score Mimi Lozano scored three goals in a 5-minute span to help the Bruins advance to the NCCAA DII National Championship game with a 5-0 shutout of Kentucky Christian University. "Another great effort by the whole team tonight," Coach Chris Carmichael said. "We're excited to get back to the national championship game on Saturday!"
Mimi Lozano scored a hat trick as the Bruins
defeated KCU 5-0 in the semi-final round.The #2 seeded Bruins came into Thursday's match after defeating #3 seeded Dallas Christian College 6-0 on Wednesday night. The Bruins had met the Knights early on in the 2015 season with the Bruins capturing an 8-0 victory in Greenville. The Bruins were just one win away from returning to their 2nd national championship match in the last three seasons.
The Bruins came out and possessed well in the opening minutes as the team established pace. The team got a spark in the 10 minute of play as Spencer Martin's centering pass found the foot of Abby Davis who scored to give the Bruins a 1-0 advantage. The team continued to keep the pressure up, but several chances sailed just wide as the Bruins took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
In the 2nd half, the Bruins came out looking to extend the lead. In Wednesday's match, the Bruins had caught fire, scoring 6 goals in the second half in the rout. Today, the team would follow suit as Mimi Lozano scored in the 55th minute of play to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. The Bruins were not done as Abby Davis was fouled in the box, and Lozano again provided a goal on the PK to make it 3-0. Lozano finished off the hat-trick just three minutes later as she scored off a rebound opportunity to put the Bruins up 4-0.
With time winding down, the Bruins players became more and more excited as they knew they were on their way to another championship game. In the 87th minute, Tessie Estrella received a through pass from Leah Edwards and struck a well-placed shot into the back of the net to put an exclamation point to a 5-0 victory over Kentucky Christian University.
"Our possession got progressively better as the match went on," Coach Carmichael said. "The team is collectively defending very well and our work rate has been very high. We're happy to get a day of recovery tomorrow, but we'll be ready to go for the championship game on Saturday."
Mimi Lozano had 3 goals for the Bruins, while Abby Davis and Tessie Estrella each scored. Spencer Martin added 2 assists for the team as the Bruins outshot KCU 25-2 in the match. With the win, the Bruins will play in the NCCAA DII National Championship match at 2:45 p.m. on Saturday. Their opponent, the #1 ranked Maranatha Baptist University Sabercats.
