Box Score ORANGE BEACH, Ala. - For the third consecutive season, the Southeastern University women's soccer team is heading to the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Quarterfinals. The sixth-seeded Fire defeated the eleventh-seeded Vanguard University Lions 5-1 to become one of the eight remaining teams in the national tournament.
The Fire struck first in the 16th minute of play, as a chipped ball over the top by Bania Duran found Yulie Lopez inside the box. Lopez cut the ball back and past the defender to open the score for the Fire.
10 minutes later, Lopez scored her second goal of the game as Uchenna Kanu played a through ball past the Vanguard defenders to find Lopez on a breakaway, catching VU's goalkeeper off guard.
With 10 minutes remaining in the half, Vanguard began to play with more urgency in their offense, however, was not able to get it past sophomore goalkeeper Holly Eddins.
"We are so pumped," stated Lopez. "My teammates were playing me great balls and the least I could do was finish them. It is not easy to win here so we are so excited to be one of the last eight teams standing."
Lopez was not done yet. Just before the intermission, Kanu dribbled down the left wing and played a ball across the box to Lopez, who then slid the ball under the goalkeeper's arm to take a 3-0 lead at halftime.
"Any time you can go up 3-0 in the first half it's a dream start for you," shared SEU head coach Randy Belli. "Yulie Lopez got the job done for us and it was an overall great team effort and a grind."
The Lions tallied 10 total shots, three on goal. All shots on the frame were saved by goalkeeper Eddins. The Fire recorded seven shots in the half, with five on goal.
After the break, the score remained 3-0 for the Fire until the 58th minute, as a foul in the box by Southeastern rewarded Vanguard with a penalty shot. Myranda Baca put away the PK for the Lions to cut the deficit to two.
In the 74th minute, Kanu scored her 40th goal of the season as she dribbled down the right wing, beating two Lions defenders and goalkeeper to help the Fire take a 4-1 lead over VU.
With under 10 minutes to go in the game, a mis-clearance by the Vanguard defense was picked up by Chloe Martin who found Bania Duran just outside the box. Duran took one touch forward and fired the ball in the upper netting of the goal to secure SEU a 5-1 victory. This goal marked Duran's 19th of the season.
The Fire have now tallied a total of 103 goals on the season thus far.
"We are just going to focus on recovering and taking care of our bodies with the short turnaround," commented Coach Belli. "Northwestern Ohio is a tough team and it is going to be a great match."
Southeastern will be back in action tomorrow as they play against No. 3 ranked University of Northwestern Ohio. Game is set to start at 7:30 p.m. ET.
