LAKELAND, Fla.- The Lakeland Bracket has been set for the NAIA National Tournament First and Second Rounds as Southeastern will host Westmont, Lindsey Wilson, and Georgia Gwinnett as each team competes for a spot in the National Championship Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala.
The Fire will host the tournament as the No. 1 seed with a 13-3-2 overall record and earning an automatic bid into the tournament after dropping the Sun Conference Tournament championship to Keiser University 1-0. Southeastern currently averages 2.83 goals per contest behind 16.6 shots per game. All-Sun Conference selection
Naira Lopez has led the offense for the entirety of the season with 10 goals and five assists. The Fire's back line has contributed to eight shutouts on the season and allowed just a single goal in six other contests for an average of .89 goals allowed per game and just 9.6 shots allowed per game. Keeper
Holly Eddins has contributed to the Fire's defensive success with 64 saves on 80 shots faced.
This will be the Fire's sixth consecutive national tournament appearance, making the national championship semifinal in 2018 and 2019.
Westmont College earned the No. 2 seed in the Lakeland Bracket after posting an impressive 14-0-3 overall record and winning the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament with a 2-1 victory over Ottawa Arizona. The Warriors come into the tournament on a nine-game winning streak, allowing no more than one goal in each of those nine games. Collectively, the team from Santa Barbara, California have outscored their opponents 53-11, ranking 10
th nationally in shots per contest at 22. Senior Reese Davidson holds nearly a 10-goal edge over her closest teammate, recording 17 goals and assisting on two while Karly Kingsley sits at second on the team with nine. Defensively, the Warriors have held opponents to a quiet 7.1 shots per contest, forcing Kailey Meyer to face only 41 shots in 16 contests in goal.
The Warriors hold an impressive national tournament resume as their five national championships sits as the most of any NAIA program and their 24 national tournament appearances ties Lindsey Wilson for the most in the NAIA.
The No. 3 seed in the Lakeland Bracket will be from Columbia, Kentucky as Lindsey Wilson claimed the spot with an at-large bid after falling to Thomas More 3-1 in the Mid-South Conference Tournament Quarterfinal. The Blue Raiders begin the tournament with a 7-5-4 overall record with all five losses and four ties coming against NAIA Top 25 or receiving votes teams. Lindsey Wilson holds the slight offensive edge over their opponents with 34 goals to their competitor's 31, averaging just over two per game. Seniors Rayssa De Souza and Alicia Thorensen have combined for a majority of the Blue Raider offense, netting 19 goals collectively. Between the posts, Maya Caon has recorded 89 saves for a .742 save percentage and averages two goals allowed per contest.
The Blue Raiders will be making their 24
th national tournament appearance, winning national championships four of those years in 2004, 2006, 2012, and 2014.
The final team in the field will be the fourth-seeded Grizzlies of Georgia Gwinnett who hold a current record of 5-7-7 and earned an automatic bid for the sixth consecutive season after falling to Bellevue in a shootout for the Continental Athletic Conference Tournament championship. Four of the Grizzlies' seven losses came against NAIA Top 10 ranked teams while two others came against receiving votes programs. The Grizzlies average 1.26 goals per contest with 12.1 shots per game but have held opponents to just 9.6 shots per game. Kyara Armenta's six goals sits as the team-high while Miranda Robinson's four assists puts her as the team leader in assists. Matilda Johansson and Matilda Waldt have split time in goal with both individuals seeing time in all 18 contests. Johansson has denied 50 goal-scoring opportunities and allowed 15 while Waldt has recorded 28 saves on 38 shots faced.
Thursday's contest will mark the second meeting this season and second postseason meeting between the Fire and the Grizzlies as the Fire took a 2-0 victory earlier this season as well as the victory in 2017 in an NAIA Opening Round matchup.
For the full tournament schedule, go to
https://www.naia.org/sports/wsoc/2022-23/Releases/2022_First_Second_Round_Schedule.
To purchase tickets to any of the opening round contests, go to
https://southeastern.universitytickets.com/w/default.aspx.
