The Lady Bruins soccer team suffered another tough loss on Tuesday afternoon as the team fell to #2 seeded Dallas Baptist University in their second pool play match at the NCCAA DI National Tournament. The Patriots stormed ahead with five goals in the first half and never looked back as they shutout the Bruins 10-0. With the loss, the Bruins are eliminated from national championship contention, but will wrap up their pool play round against #7 Carolina University on Thursday.
"This was a tough day against a perennially successful and strong DBU team," Bruins Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. "It's obviously why they have been a top-ranked team nationally in NCAA DII. We knew we had to have our best game to compete with them and although our work rate was there, we couldn't deal well with their pressure and they finished almost every opportunity they had."
The Bruins came into the match on the heels of a 2-1 loss to #3 Campbellsville University on Monday. The Patriots entered Tuesday's match after a dominant performance on Monday with a 15-0 win over Carolina University.
From the opening kickoff, the Patriots came out strong as they played with high energy and pressure to put the Bruins back on their heels. It didn't take long for DBU to find the back of the net as Ashley Merrill headed home a goal to put the Patriots up 1-0 in the 11th minute of play.
The Patriots extended their lead in the 19th minute as Delaney Schmidt scored to make it 2-0. Just minutes later, Schmidt struck again as she scored to make it 3-0 near the midway point of the first half.
The Bruins tried to regroup as they looked to stop the bleeding and get something going offensively. The Patriots continued to win possession and barraged the Bruins' net with shots. Keeper Angelina Martin made nine saves in the first half alone as the Patriots kept pouring it on.
In the final minutes of the first half, Abigail Olmos scored a pair of goals for the Patriots as the Bruins trailed 5-0 at the break. Dallas Baptist out shot the Bruins 25-1 in the first half, as the Bruins had a big hole to dig out of.
As the second half began, the Bruins came out looking to battle their way back into the game. The Patriots again used great possession and ball movement to create open lanes on goal. The Bruins struggled to get into their offensive rhythm as the team was forced to pull back defensively to slow the Patriots.
Angelina Martin continued to make several key saves for the Bruins despite relentless pressure by the Patriots. In the 68th minute of play, Ashley Merrill scored her second goal off the match on a header as the Patriots led 6-0. From there, Alondra Olmos scored a hat trick and Jenna Patterson had a goal to put an exclamation point on a strong performance by the Patriots as they went on to shutout the Bruins 10-0.
"There were some moments where we were able to build our attack and overall we played better in the second half," Coach Carmichael said. "We were just outmatched by a very strong opponent today."
Angelina Martin finished the match with 12 saves, but the Bruins couldn't find sustained possession against the Patriots in the loss. Next up, the Bruins will wrap up the 2020 season on Thursday afternoon as they face #7 Carolina University at 2:30 p.m. in Kissimmee, Florida.
