The Bob Jones University women's soccer team has advanced to the NCCAA Division I South Region Championship game after earning a 3-0 victory over Columbia International University. Gabriela Gonzalez netted two goals while Anna Grace Abrams picked up the third in today's win. With today's win, the #2 Bruins will face #1 Carolina University on Friday for a 2 p.m. match in Columbia, South Carolina.

"I couldn't be more proud of how hard the team worked to earn an important win against a very strong CIU team," said Head Coach Chris Carmichael. "CIU created a lot of challenges and consistent dangerous situations that we had to continually solve. The team rose to the challenge and played a gutsy match. The three weeks off since our last regular season match showed a bit but we were able to finally settle and control large moments of the game."

After nearly three weeks without a game, the Bruins were back on the pitch to face Columbia International University in the semifinals of the NCCAA DI South Region tournament. They entered the game with a 13-4-1 and as the #2 seed. #3 seeded CIU came into Wednesday's game with an 8-7-3 record. 

The Bruins came out and made a statement early on in today's contest as Gabriela Gonzalez sailed the ball from outside the box to give Bob Jones the 1-0 lead just seven minutes into today's contest. Both teams saw opportunities as the game continued, but at halftime the Bruins were still able to hold on to their lead. 

With just over 10 minutes remaining in the match, it was Gabriela Gonzalez once again with a rocket that hit the cross bar and bounced just past the goal line to double the lead for the Bruins. But they weren't done yet. In the 89th minute, Mia Marks passed the ball over to Anna Grace Abrams who shot the ball into the bottom pocket of the net to seal the deal for the Bruins. 

"We started the game strong with an early goal," said midfielder Sylvia Cummings. "It was a competitive and physical game and took determination from every player. The team's hard work paid off in the final ten minutes to add two more goals and end with a 3-0 win."

When speaking of his team after the game, Coach Carmichael said, "Gaby Gonzalez continued to get us some big goals and Anna Grace Abrams delivered the final blow to get us the win. Our defense played a great game and was able to deal with a lot of tough situations and was able to break up most of their movement in the attacking third and have the awareness and calmness to build the attack in tight places. Francesca Peters gave us a lot of pace on both the attacking and defending side of the ball and was huge for us. We are going to try to recover quickly and get ready for the championship match on Friday. We praise God for our team that He has knitted together."

With the 3-0 win, the Bruins have advanced to the championship game which will take place Friday, November 18 at 2 p.m. in Columbia, South Carolina. 

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