The Bruins controlled the whole semifinal match against the #4 seed Alice Lloyd College and came away with a 3-0 win to advance to the region championship on Saturday.
"I was extremely happy to see us control all parts of the game and our high possession rate and quick ball movement really helped us find the free man and create a lot of goal scoring opportunities," Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. "We had a lot more movement in the attacking third and got some great goals out of Lydia Howell, Estrella Cruz and Brooke Coursen. The entire team did amazing! We now need to get fully recovered and hope that Madison Avelino's knee injury she sustained in the game is not serious as that would be a huge blow to our team."
The Bruins controlled every facet of the game from the opening kickoff, but it took a while for them to find the back of the net and take the lead. The Bruins fired 14 shots before Lydia Howell scored in the 35th minute to break the 0-0 draw after a great ball into the box by Lauren Green. The Bruins had several more chances but went into halftime up 1-0.
In the second half, the Bruins were able to strike a lot quicker than in the first half. Lily Davis delivered a great cross into the box where Estrella Cruz was able to put a strong header into the net for her first goal of the season. The Bruins were now up 2-0 and looking for more. Coach Carmichael put Brooke Coursen up top as the Bruins forward in the 69th minute and as she went to the center to go in, Carmichael said "Brooke, go score a goal." Coursen followed through and put one home in the 80th minute to seal a 3-0 win over the Eagles.
The Bruins fired an astounding 40 total shots in the win and only allowed one from the Eagles.
After the game, goal-scorer Estrella Cruz shared her thoughts: "We had the lead at halftime but knew we needed to raise the energy. We were much more dynamic in the second half and created chances that led to two more goals. We're excited to be moving on to the championship this weekend."
South Region Player of the Year Lydia Howell also shared some words about the match: "We created many chances in the game, and we were able to have some great goals. We have a lot of energy going into Saturday, and we hope to take the region again."
To close the post-game comments, Brooke Coursen had this to say: "We had almost complete possession throughout the game and capitalized on our goals. This is a great win to head into the regional championship game!"
They now wait to see the winner of the match between Trinity College of Jacksonville and the University of Toccoa Falls. The region championship is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at Piedmont University on Saturday.
