Warriors鈥 Title Hopes Dashed in Finals
An inspiring run for a national title came up one game short for the 黑料百科 women鈥檚 soccer team. The No. 2 Warriors (17-2-5) stumbled against No. 4 Concordia (Ore.) 1-0 in the 2013 NAIA National Championship on Dec. 7 in Orange Beach, Ala.
After winning at home on penalty kicks against Westminster (Utah) on Nov. 23, the Warriors played four games in six days in Alabama defeating Martin Methodist (Tenn.), Davenport (Mich.) and Northwood (Fla.) before falling in the finals.
鈥淭hey kept coming at us, and it was hard for us to keep the ball and hard for us to get anything going offensively,鈥 黑料百科 head coach Kristi Kiely said. In fact, Kelsey Steck fired the Warrior鈥檚 lone shot on goal that didn鈥檛 come until the 81st minute. 鈥淭he players never let up, just like every game,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t just didn鈥檛 go our way this time,鈥 she said.
鈥淚 am really proud that the players reached this game. We walked into the tournament one game at a time and, all of a sudden, we were in the championship game.鈥
In post-game awards, three Warriors were named to the 2013 NAIA Women鈥檚 Soccer National Championship All-Tournament Team, including senior defender Alison Hensley, junior midfielder Tiffany Dimaculangan and freshman defender Sophie Fuller. Fuller was also named the Select Sport America-NAIA Championship Outstanding Defensive Player.