Box Score ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – In a gritty performance on a national stage, the No. 10 Southeastern University women's soccer team defeated the No. 5 Vanguard University Lions 1-0 in the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Round of 16. The twelfth-seeded Fire will now compete in the tournament quarterfinals for the first time in program history.
"Credit to Vanguard. They put us under a lot of pressure. When you get to the National Tournament, you have to win games and get results even when you don't play well and credit to our team for grinding it out," shared Head Coach
Randy Belli.
It took all of 54 seconds for what proved to be the turning point of the match to unfold. Sophomore forward Uchenna Kanu cut back with the ball on the left side of the box and bent a shot into the far post to put the Fire up 1-0 in the 1
st minute.
The Lions garnered more scoring opportunities in the first 45, outshooting the Fire 8-5 in the half. However, both teams were even with three shots on frame a piece.
Senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Romero had a career game for Southeastern. Despite Vanguard spending a considerable amount of time on the SEU half of the pitch in the second half, the Jacksonville native helped anchor a determined Fire effort to keep the Lions off the scoreboard.
Romero posted five of her eight saves in the second 45 minutes of play. The eight saves tied her career high and pushed her over the century mark in her career saves total (104).
"Getting that goal early and being able to maintain the lead for 89 minutes is not easy, so that gives me confidence that we can go this entire tournament giving up little to no goals, getting leads early, and finishing games strong," commented Romero.
The Fire now await the winner of fourth-seeded William Carey versus thirteenth-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan. SEU will play the winner in the quarterfinals on Wedensday at 2:30 p.m. eastern.
Be sure to follow @SEUFireWSoccer on Twitter for all of the latest updates on the Fire as they continue play in the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Tournament.
