From internet reports
FOLEY, Ala. – For the fourth time in the past six seasons, the William Carey University women are going to play for a national championship in soccer.
The Crusaders spotted Tennessee Southern an early 2-0 lead, then roared back with three goals before halftime, and poured it on in the second half, routing the Firehawks 7-3 in the semifinals of the NAIA Women’s National Tournament.
Top-ranked, top-seeded Carey remained undefeated at 24-0-0, and will battle Cumberlands (Ky.) at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday in the championship game at the Foley Sports Complex.
WCU will be going for its second national title to go with its championship from 2018. Cumberlands is in the finals for the first time in school history. Tennessee Southern finished its season 16-5-3.
Things looked shaky early for William Carey, as the Firehawks scored two quick goals, the first at 12:48 by Miran Sakai and the second at 18:21 by Nao Katamoto.
But it took less than a minute for the Crusaders to climb back in the match, as junior Mariangela Jimenez found the back of the net of a pass from junior Christina Salmon at 19:02.
Five minutes later, Carey got the equalizer as Jimenez feathered a pass to senior Fernanda Pena Nieto at 24:11.
It took just 35 seconds for Carey to take the lead for good, when UTS was whistled for a foul in the 18-yard box. Sophomore Virginia Mesa was called on to take the penalty kick, and she was good for her ninth goal of the season.
That was all the scoring in the first half, but Carey owned a big advantage on the stat sheet, with 17 shots, five on goal, to just four shots, all on goal, for the Firehawks.
That set the stage for the second-half onslaught. The Crusaders were relentless from the start of the period, peppering the UTS goal with nine shots before finally cashing one in.
Salmon and Jimenez each had shots on net in the first three minutes of the period, and Nieto and senior Maria Azarias each had good looks that were knocked away.
It was Salmon who broke through, scoring at 65:56 on an assist from sophomore Karen Vilau for her team-high 23rd goal of the season, and the rout was on.
Less than a minute later, senior Alexis Arnoult scored the first of her two second-half goals on a feed from Mesa at 66:41, then Salmon and Jimenez hooked up again, with Jimenez getting the goal at 69:54.
Arnoult completed the scoring for Carey with her fifth goal of the season on a pass from freshman Kristina Decker, just her third assist of the year, at 82:20.
The Crusaders conceded a late score by Sakai at 84:53, but it was too little too late for Tennessee Southern.
WCU finished with 33 shots in all, while UTS had just 10, and the only shot on goal the Firehawks had in the second half was their late goal. Carey also had a huge advantage in corner kicks, with 10, to just three for UTS, all in the first half.
William Carey has never played Cumberlands in women’s soccer coming into Tuesday’s final. The third-seeded Patriots (18-1-3) defeated No. 2 Spring Arbor (Mich.) 2-0 in the other semifinal.
Cumberlands has yet to allow a goal in the National Tournament, with four consecutive shutouts. The Patriots are led by junior Jayden Boelter, who has 20 goals and 8 assists for the season.
