Bowling Green, KY – The 18
th-ranked Patriots women's soccer team will move on to the MSC Championship after defeating third-seed Thomas More 4-1, Friday night at Warren East High School.
Shara Randez, Laura Navajas,
Naira Lopez, and
Micha Harris were the keys to success as they scored Cumberlands' four goals on the night. With the victory, UC improves to 14-2-1 and will continue their postseason run.
Cumberlands came out of the gates with speed as Anihoa Camara found Randez for the fastest goal scored in the Hamilton era. Randez dribbled past the Saints' defense to put a shot into the lower, right corner giving the Patriots 1-0 lead 15 seconds into the game. UC's offense didn't slow down as Camara again found Cumberlands midfielder Navajas, who fired a shot just inside the far post for a goal. With the 32:13 remaining in the first half, UC took the 2-0 lead. Led by
Nicole Panis, the Patriots' defense came up with two huge saves to hold Thomas More scoreless. The Patriots added another goal as Randez passed a though-ball up to Lopez, who fired off a goal to make it 3-0 in the 35'. As the half came to a close,
Jillian Zurborg sent a cross into the box where Lopez headed the ball towards Harris, who then headed the ball into the back of the net to give the Patriots the 4-0 advantage before halftime.
Although the scoring ended in the first half for Cumberlands, the women continued to battle and hold the Thomas More Saints at bay.
Jenna Rockwell,
Amy Anderson and
Selena Barnett led the Patriots backline to keep the Saints to only a pair of shots on goal through the first 25 minutes of the second half. Thomas More refused to go scoreless however, and in the 84' Saints' Olivia Nienaber sent a lob shot over GK
Briley Fillenwarth to make the final score 4-1 in favor of the Patriots.
With this win, the Patriots advance to the conference championship match for the first time since
Steve Hamilton became the head coach in 2015. Cumberlands last moved on to the MSC championship when they took down Georgetown 1-0 in the 2007 MSC Semifinals.
The Patriots will take on Lindsey Wilson in the Mid-South Conference Championship next Saturday, November 16, at 12 pm EST. in Bowling Green, KY. Live stats will be available
here, and the championship page is accessible
here.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter - @UC_Patriots & @UCPatsGameday, Instagram - @UCPatriots, YouTube – CumberlandsPatriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.