KISSIMEMEE, Fla. — Campbellsville University women's soccer made it farther than anyone could have expected but the Lady Tigers could not put out the Flames of Lee University in the NCCAA Semifinals. Lee knocked CUWS out of the tournament, 3-0, to end the season Friday evening at Austin-Tindall Park.
Campbellsville's season ends after breaking multiple team and individual records. The Lady Tigers finished with a 15-9 overall record - the most wins in any CUWS single season.
"What a great ride," said CU head coach Thom Jones. "This group was awesome, and I cannot ask them for anything else. We made it this far and played up to our potential in two of the three games. This season goes down in the books as the best in CUWS history.
"You can't take any of this for granted. We saw that last night at the final four banquet with the speaker. We never know when we'll be back, but it was a great experience and something I wouldn't trade for the world."
Lee University put the pedal to the floor and maintained possession for the majority of the first half. Kinsey Cichowitz put the Flames up 1-0 in the 21st minute and the goals started to come in a hurry.
Kathryn Healy and Meagan Newman both scored the second and third goals for Lee in a 10 minute span and dashed the hopes of CUWS making any type of second half come back.
"It is the same thing that we have to remind them over and over about the things we work on in practice," said Jones. "In a game we go blank, then they score and it starts to come back to us. I think that is because of the lack of experience in the back line."
Lee University out shot Campbellsville 12-2 in the first 45 minutes and 18-6 overall for the game.
The second half was a much different story for the Lady Tigers and they were able to keep Lee out of the back of the net. Goalkeeper Amanda Howard picked up remarkable back-to-back saves in the final minutes to keep the Flames scoreless in the final 45 minutes.
The freshman from Harrodsburg, Ky. finished with eight saves and extended her single-season record to now 133 saves in her first season.
Marbel Egwuenu picked up five saves for the Flames and shut down multiple attempts by the CU offensive attack late in the game.
"Once we were down 3-0 we had nothing to lose at that point," said Jones. "The girls calmed down and started to play soccer like they know how. The first half it seemed like knowing who their opponent was and how they have beat us in recent years freaked them out a little bit."
On top of the single-season wins and saves records, the Lady Tigers also finished with a .625 win percentage, which is also tops in program history.
For the four Lady Tiger seniors, Alysen Shireman, Hannah Pritchert, Alex Shaffer and Kara McKee, it was the final time they would wear the maroon and gray but Jones could not thank his senior leadership enough with a young squad in 2014.
"I am really going this miss this bunch," said Jones. "We finished with two girls playing valuable minutes at the end but it's hard to have another injured and not able to play. Hannah Pritchert was the lone four-year senior that didn't get a lot of playing time, but she hung in there and kept fighting everyday in practice. This was a great group of girls that led by example, and I wish I had them all back next fall."
For those of you following the daily diaries, the Lady Tigers are leaving Kissimmee at 2 a.m. ET for Kentucky. Day 8 diary will be posted tomorrow afternoon on the ride home.
You can follow the Lady Tigers and all Campbellsville University atlhletics on Twitter- @CUWSTiger and @CvilleTigers. Also, on Facebook - Campbellsville Tigers.
