By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
It turned out that Jamie Holifield knew what she was talking about.
Following William Carey’s victory in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament on Nov. 17, Holifield was asked about the Lady Crusaders’ chances of winning a national title. Her words were quite prophetic.
“This year, I think we have the squad to do it,” said the senior from Petal. “Each year, I think we’ve had the defense to do it, then the next year, we’ve had the offense. This year, I think we have the combined team to do it.”
The second-seeded Lady Saders capped a brilliant week of soccer with a 1-0 victory over Keiser (Fla.) University Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the NAIA National Tournament at Orange Beach, Ala.
It was the first title in the school’s 10th appearance in the tournament in Danny Owens’ 14 seasons as coach. Carey (21-3) won after the game was postponed from Saturday night when lightning and heavy rains washed over the area. No. 5 Keiser finished its season 20-3-2.
Freshman forward Anni Rusanen scored for the just the second time all season at 15:50, and the Lady Crusaders did the rest on defense, helping senior goalkeeper Abby Baravik to her 13th shutout of the year.
Rusanen, who came to Carey from Finland, was active early, shooting wide of the goal in the eighth minute before finding the back of the net on Carey’s third shot of the game.
The Lady Crusaders had plenty of opportunities to add to their lead, getting 18 shots for the game, but only five on-goal. The Seahawks put pressure on Baravik in the first half, getting 7 shots and putting four on-goal.
It was a different story in the second half, as Carey smothered Keiser, allowing just three shots and only one on-goal in the final 45 minutes, that coming in the 58th minute.
GAME SUMMARY
NAIA Soccer National Tournament
Championship
Sunday at Orange Beach, Ala.
WOMEN
William Carey 1, Keiser (Fla.) 0
KU 0 0 – 0
WCU 1 0 – 1
KEISER (20-3-2): GK – Nina Haeberlin, 4 saves. YC – Madeleine Berghuit, 78:57.
WILLIAM CAREY (21-3-0): Anni Rusanen (Unassisted), 15:50. GK – Abby Baravik, 5 saves.
