HATTIESBURG, Miss. – #2 William Carey picked up a huge win over #12 Life University 2-1 on Thursday evening at Danny Owens Field
 
"It was a very competitive game from start to finish" said Head Coach Danny Owens. "In a game of limited opportunities, we did well to take the ones we did get. We defended really well as a team. Life put us under a lot of pressure and I'm really happy with the way we grinded out the win."
 
Both teams came into this game knowing what was at stake, the #1 spot in the SSAC. The game started at a frantic pace, full of energy with both teams throwing bodies forward.
 
Life took the game to Carey during the opening, forcing the Crusaders on the defensive from the start. The Running Eagles looked the most likely to score early on and nearly did in the 11^th minute. A throw in down the LU right-hand side was cleared to the edge of the box to the feet of Ana Diaz. Diaz took aim but her shot was met by the outstretched hand of Carey's Nerea Pallas Padilla to send the ball over the bar.
 
Carey managed to keep the early LU pressure under control and escaped unscathed. The Crusaders began to grow into the game as they found their footing going forward. Virginia Mesa was the first to test Life's Elora Niederpruem between the sticks. Mesa took her shot from the edge of the box but was unable to get a solid contact on her strike as her effort sailed gingerly into Niederpruem's clutches.
 
The game turned into somewhat of a basketball game with both teams taking turns going on the attack but neither team able to muster a meaningful chance.
 
That was until Alessia Navarro produced a piece of magic. Mesa found Navarro some distance out from goal. Navarro had one thought in her mind as she took a touch out her feet and looked up to check the keeper's positioning. Navarro unleashed her shot that looked destined for the back of the net the second it left her foot as it sailed into the top left corner, leaving Niederpruem with no chance.
 
The game continued to go back and forth as it had done prior to the goal. Both teams kept up the manic pace with both teams leaving it all out on the field.
 
Life got their reward for the way they had started the game and got the goal their play had deserved. Albeit a gift from Carey. A string of defensive mistakes saw Sacha Millward find her way in on goal. Driving down the left of the Crusader penalty area, Millward opened her hips and fired across goal, finishing neatly into the side netting.
 
Carey nearly responded immediately through a well worked set piece. A short corner from Boo Mills & Karen Vilau found Raquel Diaz on the edge of the box. Diaz unfortunately dragged her shot just wide with no other girl in Carey colors able to turn the loose ball goalwards.
 
The second half was Carey's turn to start on the offensive and they got their instant reward.  Not even two minutes into the half and referee Uwe Tittl pointed to the spot. Vilau unleashed a shot from the edge of the box that struck the hand of the Life defender inside the box. Vilau stepped up to convert the subsequent, sending her shot to the left and the keeper to the right.
 
The second half followed the same script as the first, both teams playing with passion and the right to call themselves #1 in the SSAC. WCU & LU took turns going on the offensive but both defenses remained resolute, leaving either keeper with little to do. Any goal was going to come from a mistake but neither team was willing to give up that mistake.
 
Carey came closest to getting the game's next goal via Lesley Vasquez. Vasquez, in possession in the middle of the Life half, cut inside past her defender and took a chance. Unfortunately, her effort could only strike the post and with no Carey player within range, the ball bounced harmlessly to safety.
 
Carey maintained control of the game in the closing moments and held on to secure an invaluable win and clinch top spot in the SSAC for the time being.
 
The Lady Crusaders are back in action on Saturday, October 18^th as they host Dalton State. That game is set to get underway at 1 PM at Danny Owens Field.