Williamsburg, KY – The top-ranked University of the Cumberlands women's soccer team netted a pair of goals in the first four minutes of action to set the tone and defeat Olivet Nazarene 6-1 in the Second Round of the NAIA Tournament Saturday night at the UC Soccer Complex. With the win, the Patriots advance to the NAIA final site for the fifth consecutive season and improve to 18-0 on the year.
"This team came out strong right from the opening whistle and executed a flawless game plan," said Head Coach
Steve Hamilton. "With the win, we advanced to the NAIA Final Site, which was one of the goals that we set at the beginning of the season and to reach this point is a testament to the incredible effort everyone as put forth all season."
Jayden Boelter had a career day netting four goals, including her NAIA leading tenth game-winning goal in the match. The four goals is the second most in program history and she broke the program's single season record for points with 65. The Hebron, KY native is also the first Patriot soccer player to score over 100 career goals.
Nicole Araujo tallied a goal and two assists, while
Kallen Fuller netted her second goal of the season. Six other Patriots recorded assists on the day.
UC set the tone for the match early as Araujo played a ball into the box for Boelter to finish 1:15 into the match making it 1-0 Patriots. Cumberlands worked to earn a corner kick two minutes later and
Carola Fontan connected with Boelter for her ninth multi-goal game of the season. The Patriots continued to dominate the possession earning two corner kicks, while Meegan Randall tallied a pair of saves over the next ten minutes. In the 17',
Alba Ramirez sent a ball up field, where Araujo got behind the defense and buried it into the net to make it 3-0. The two teams traded possession as
Georgia Martell made her first save of the night. Shortly after that Cumberlands made a run as Araujo sent the ball into the box where it was headed by
Laura Bosca before being finished off by Boelter to make it 4-0.
Cumberlands continued their strong play in the second half, controlling the possession.
Olaya Blanco put her second shot on frame which was saved. That set up a Patriot corner kick as Blanco sent the ball into the box where it deflected off
Rita Aguye before Boelter finished for her fourth goal of the season and her 101
st career goal. UC continued to control the possession rattling off three shots, including a pair from
Juana Fernandez, and two corner kicks over the next 20 minutes of play. Olivet Nazarene got on the board in the 81', however, the Patriots responded minutes later as Fernandez connected with Fuller for the goal and the 6-1 final.
UC's backline of Blanco, Aguye,
Samantha Sokolove, and
Noah Paalman limited the Tigers to just four shots in the match, while Martell and
Hedvig Persson combined for three saves.
The Patriots will travel to Pensacola, FL to compete in the NAIA National Championship final site at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex. Cumberlands will face #16 John Brown in the round of 16 on Monday, December 2
nd at 11 a.m. (ET)
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 and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.
