LAKELAND, Fla.—Facing a two-goal deficit to a potent offense and a defense that had only conceded four shots on goals in its two previous games, the Fire women's soccer team had quite a task ahead of it.
Southeastern scored twice in the final 12:30 of the game to come away with a 5-4 win over second-ranked William Carey.
"There's a little bit of concern in the coach's heart but the players knew they had it in them," said Coach
Caleb Roberts of the two-goal deficit. "It's a testament to the group of girls in the locker room they knew they could play together and find a way to win."
William Carey (2-1) got on the board first with the first of two goals on the day by Kauany Sousa in the 19
th minute of play, but the Fire answered back on
Naira Lopez's fourth goal of the season, bouncing a free kick through the wall from just outside the 18.
With 12:10 remaining in the half, Julia Herbst finished a feed from Alyssia Davis to put the Crusaders up 2-1 at halftime.
Southeastern (3-0) came out aggressive in the second half with Lopez having a look point-blank, but was denied by defender Claudia Mendinhas. Sousa's second goal of the game in the 64
th minute of play made it 3-1 in favor of the guests.
"We knew that we had the talent to win and just needed to put in the work," said sophomore
Ramsey Watkins. "We had the legs on the bench and gave it our all and when we got tired, we brought new people in and it ended up working in the end."
Karissa King dribbled inside the box and was taken down from behind in the 68
th minute, yielding a penalty kick for
Jennifer Luna, who went far post to make it 3-2. Luna scored again in the 73
rd minute to tie the game at three off a
Karissa King corner kick.
"She is a fantastic leader and is phenomenal on the field," said Roberts of Luna. "That's one of the best attacks you'll see in the NAIA and Jen is a stronghold back there and got involved in the attack and is dangerous on set pieces."
Just over four minutes later, the Crusaders regained the lead when Julia Herbst poked a ball to the upper ninety, far post in the 77
th minute.
Less than a minute later,
Nanako Omae fed Watkins during a corner kick to the near post to knot the game at four. Watkins repaid the favor with 2:25 to play when she set up Omae for the game winner on a cross from the left wing.
"We talked about playing our brand of soccer in the second half and get into a hard press and it worked," said Roberts. "I think we are deep enough to keep numbers coming in and rotating and keeping our legs fresh."
The Fire were outshot 18-11 with William Carey holding an 11-6 advantage in shots on goal.
Holly Eddins made seven saves for SEU.
Southeastern returns to action Thursday at 6 p.m. against Middle Georgia State at home.
