CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Lady Tiger soccer continues to make history and won its first NAIA National Tournament game, 5-0 over Ashford University.
Campbellsville (19-2) will now travel to the final site of the NAIA National Championship, Orange Beach, Ala. The Lady Tigers will play Benedictine (Kan.) on Monday, Nov. 30 with a time TBA. The Ravens knocked off Trinity International, 2-0 today in the Opening Round.
"I am very happy for my seniors," said CU coach Thom Jones. "They got to play one more game at home and won 5-0 to go on to the final 16 of the NAIA Championship. I am very happy for them and proud of this team."
Campbellsville and Ashford were playing in 30 mph winds and rain the entire first half and were neck-and-neck in the first 44 minutes but all it took was a goal late in the first half to give the Lady Tigers all it would need to advance. Devon Burnside scored off a corner kick from Aris Kuntz with just 28 seconds remaining the in the first half and Campbellsville gained all the momentum going into halftime.
"We have done that a few times this year," said Jones. "We play all the way to the final buzzer each half. I knew if we could get one goal with the wind in our faces then we would be good to go."
Campbellsville continued to play add-on in the second half with four more goals.
Carson Cline scored her fourth goal of the season in the 56th minute and then Taylor Pence got into the boxscore with her first career goal in the 70th minute. Pence delivered a beauty of a free kick from 35 yards out to put CU ahead 3-0.
Senior Rachel Veatch then got in on the party three minutes later. Kuntz dribbled past the goalkeeper and found Veatch in the box for her 13th goal of the season. The pass was Kuntz' fifth assist of the season.
Erica McWilliams put the icing on the cake in the 86th minute on a PK. Ashford's Stephanie Dominquez played a hard tackle in the box to put McWilliams at the line for her second goal of the season.
"We stuck to our game plan tonight," said Jones. "We attacked them and controlled the possession of the game. We played to each others feet, were crisp with our passes and created gaps. I told the girls at halftime to not make any changes because we would eventually capitalize and we did."
Campbellsville's goalkeeper Amanda Howard added on to her record-breaking shutouts and now has 13 for the season. The Lady Tigers lead the nation with 15 shutouts overall and have now outscored opponents, 75-8.
"This is an exciting time," said Jones. "It hadn't really hit the girls quite yet that we are going to the NAIA Championship because they played so well tonight and dominated the game, but come Monday we are going to start putting a game plan together for Benedictine but we'll definitely enjoy this the next two days."
More information about travel and brackets will be updated tomorrow night, Sunday, Nov. 22 at www.CampbellsvilleTigers.com.Â
