LAKELAND, Fla. – In a regular season rematch with a championship on the line, The No. 1 Southeastern University Fire and the No. 6 Keiser University Seahawks put on another thrilling match that showcased the high-caliber of Sun Conference women's soccer. After tying 0-0 at the end of 110 minutes, the Fire fell to the Seahawks in penalty kicks 4-2. This marked the fifth Sun Conference Tournament Championship in Keiser program history.
"I am impressed with how hard our team fought and gave it everything they had. This was an incredible match between two of the top teams in the country," shared head coach
Randy Belli. "I believe The Sun Conference will be well represented in the national tournament."
After 30 minutes of stalemate, junior forward
Uchenna Kanu nearly broke the tie in the 31
st minute with a header that hit the crossbar and bounced back in front of the goal line before it was cleared out.
Freshman goalkeeper
Holly Eddins snagged four of her seven saves in the first 45 minutes of play. Eddins has now totaled 17 saves in 220 minutes of shutout soccer versus Keiser this season.
The Fire came out aggressive in the second half, outshooting the Seahawks 8-3 in the first 25 minutes of play.
Keiser started asserting itself offensively, outshooting SEU 5-1 to close out regulation.
A laser by sophomore forward
Aisha Solorzano in the 99
th minute nearly found its way past Seahawks' keeper Nina Haeberlin to end the contest.
The whistle at the end of the second overtime period marked the first time Keiser had been shutout this season.
The Seahawks rallied back from missing their first penalty kick in the shootout to convert four straight set pieces to clinch the conference tournament title.
The Fire now turn their attention to the NAIA National Tournament, where they will await an at-large bid. The selection show will take place Monday November 12 at noon eastern and can be viewed
here.
