ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – For the second consecutive year, the Southeastern University women's soccer team will compete in the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Quarterfinals. The sixth-seeded Fire earned a place as one of the eight remaining teams in the 2018 national tournament field with a 3-0 win over the eleventh-seeded John Brown University Golden Eagles last night in sub-40 degree temperatures. The Fire now face the Midland University Warriors from the Great Plains Athletic Conference, who upset third-seeded Martin Methodist last night in 4-2 in penalty kicks after tying 1-1.
The NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Quarterfinal:
No. 6 Seed Southeastern (19-1-2) vs. Midland University Warriors (14-2-4) Wednesday 7:30 p.m. EDT
COVERAGE:
WATCH (Fees Apply) LIVE STATS
FIRE FOCUS:
- With her two-goal performance last night, Kanu set a new single-season NAIA record for goals scored at 54.
- The Abia, Nigeria native now has eight goals and five assists this postseason.
- Kanu has scored more goals this season than Midland as a team (46).
- After battling back from injury, graduate forward Yulie Lopez has three postseason goals and assists each.
- Highlighted by a spectacular penalty kick save in the 26th minute, freshman goalkeeper Holly Eddins posted her ninth full-90 shutout of the season.
POSTSEASON POWER
- SEU is 11-1-2 in the postseason all-time under head coach Randy Belli's guidance.
- The Fire have outscored opponents 52-11 in those matches.
- Kanu has 21 postseason goals all-time.
FIRST MEETING:
- This marks the first ever meeting between Southeastern and Midland.
THE WARRIORS:
- With 5:08 to go in regulation, junior midfielder PT Perez netted the equalizer that tied things up 1-1 with Martin Methodist.
- Sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Thigpen made nine saves in the 110 minutes of regulation and overtime. Thigpen also made a trio of saves in penalty kicks that helped the Warriors advance to the quarterfinals.
- After surrendering four goals in their 2018 season opener, Midland has only allowed five goals in the 19 matches they have played since.
- Perez and junior forward Nayeli Rodriguez have combined to score 67.4% of the team's goals this season.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
SEU
Goals per Game: 5.05
Shots per Game: 24.1
Shots on Goal per Game: 12.36
Shutouts: 16
Individual Goals Leader:
Uchenna Kanu (54)
Individual Assists Leader:
Gabriella DiDio (20)
Individual Saves Leader:
Holly Eddins (80)
MU
Goals per Game: 2.3
Shots per Game: 17.7
Shots on Goal per Game: 8.1
Shutouts: 14
Individual Goals Leader: Nayeli Rodriguez (16)
Individual Assists Leader: Brittany Llanes (9)
Individual Saves Leader: Rachel Thigpen (77)
BELLI'S BRAIN:
"Despite the frigid temperatures, we are enjoying the journey and are looking forwards to another tough National Tournament match,"
-
Randy Belli Southeastern Head Coach.
Be sure to follow @SEUFireWSoccer on Twitter for all of the latest updates on the Fire from Orange Beach.
