Box Score
The Lady Bruins soccer team is now one game away from defending their 2015 NCCAA DII National Title as the team defeated #4 seeded Randall University 3-0 on Friday night to advance to the championship game.
"We're playing well and we need to keep playing well," Bruins Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. "We need to stick to our game plan. Our girls are excited and they will be pumped and ready to play tomorrow."
The Bruins came into the tournament as the #1 seed after the team won their second straight South Region Championship. Their opponent would be the Randall University Saints who came in with the #4 ranking, finishing the season at 7-8-1.
As the match began, the Bruins did a good job of controlling the tempo and possession in the opening minutes as they looked to move in for looks on goal. The Saints played a defensive strategy in locking down on Bruins offensive attackers, making it difficult for BJU to find lanes to score. The Bruins were able to generate some good looks on frame as Abby Davis beat the back line, but her shot sailed over the net. Minutes later, the Bruins had a chance on a cornerkick, but the shot was denied by Saints keeper Madi Harris.
The Bruins continued to pressure the Saints net, but Randall continued to thwart the Bruins chances. The Bruins had more chances than the Saints to score as the team outshot Randall University 18-1 in the first half. Still, the two teams ended the half as they began it with a 0-0 score.
"We told our players to not get lazy on the defensive side," Coach Carmichael said. "We knew we needed to stay sharp defensively and be patient offensively and keep pressuring."
In the second half, the Bruins came out recharged as they looked to get on the board first. Abby Davis found her way behind the Saints defense, but another brilliant save by Harris kept the match scoreless.
Finally, the Bruins found the back of the net as a deflected pass in the box found the feet of Lauren Foushee and she buried it into the back of the net to give the Bruins the 1-0 lead. The fans went crazy as the team had finally taken the lead at the midway point of the second half.
From there, the Bruins continued to go on the offensive as they knew they were just one mistake away from an equalizer. The Saints began to pressure more offensively as they had several chances in the second half. The Bruins defensive back of Ally Jenkins and Jenny Townsend stayed strong and Kristen Haertlein made several saves to keep the lead.
With just 15 minutes to play, the Bruins got the insurance goal they needed as Kaitlyn Hummel fired a well-placed shot into the back of the net to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. Natasha Walters then put the exclamation point on the victory as she scored off a great centering pass from Abby Davis as the Lady Bruins punched their ticket to the title game with a 3-0 win.
"Randall played great against us tonight," Coach Chris Carmichael said. "They pressured us defensively and were organized and their work rate was very good. We kept sending numbers into the box and were patient and got one in and then picked it up from there."
The Lady Bruins outshot the Saints 34-4 in the match and played well on both sides of the ball. With the win, the Bruins will play #2 seeded Grace Bible College in the NCCAA DII National Championship match on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
