Lakeland, Fla. –The Southeastern University women's soccer team earned their place in the Sun Conference Tournament championship game after defeating the St. Thomas University Bobcats 3-1 on Tuesday night in the semifinal. This marks the first time in program history the Fire have advanced to the conference title game.
Both teams had a difficult time creating offensive opportunities in the early minutes of the match. The Bobcats started off doing a respectable job of playing keep away from the SEU attackers. However, the Fire began figuring things out, registering the first two shots on goal of the game in the 18
th and 19
th minutes.
The Southeastern attack finally broke through in 28
th minute, as freshman forward
Uchenna Kanu had her shot blocked in the box and senior forward
Alyssa Kaminski finished it for the goal. Kaminski was right back at it in the 31
st minute, as she located the ball in the middle of a scuffle in the box after a free kick and netted her second score of the game.
The scores gave the Fire a 2-0 lead and Kaminski sole possession of the conference lead in goals scored at 16. This was the Eustis, Fla. native's second consecutive multi-goal game.
The Bobcats retaliated late in the first half, as Amyah Banks found the ball in the midst of a scramble inside the box after a free kick and was able to find the back of the net to cut the Fire lead to one in the 42
nd minute. This was only the sixth time in 1,620 minutes of play that the Fire defense surrendered a score. SEU led STU 2-1 at the half.
SEU moved the ball with ease coming out of the half, and the returns came quickly. Freshman midfielder
Bania Duran found Kanu in the box on a beautiful touch that was finished by the Abia, Nigeria native.
The score was Kanu's 13
th through the first nine games of her collegiate career. This was also her third straight game with a score and an assist.
The Fire defense locked down in the second half, not surrendering a single shot on goal to the Bobcats to preserve the 3-1 SEU victory.
"Our team's excited, we're making history every game we win and they don't want to stop until that conference championship is here," shared Head Coach
Randy Belli.
Southeastern will travel to West Palm Beach to take on Keiser University in the Sun Conference Tournament championship game. The match is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. on Friday.
