HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Lady Crusaders advanced to the SSAC Championship semifinals with a dominant 10-1 victory over Faulkner University on Friday afternoon at Danny Owens Field.
William Carey wasted little time taking control of the match. Just three minutes into the contest,
Raquel Diaz collected a loose ball, drove into the attacking third and fired a brilliant shot into the top corner to give the Lady Crusaders a 1-0 lead.
Carey doubled its advantage in the eighth minute when
Livia Pertl played a long ball over the top to
Linda Mustered. Timing her run perfectly, Mustered broke free for a one-on-one opportunity with the Faulkner goalkeeper. Her initial attempt clipped the crossbar, but the rebound fell right back to her feet, allowing her to calmly finish and make it 2-0.
The Lady Crusaders continued to apply pressure, and in the 11th minute
Luana Falconeri delivered a perfect cross into the box where
Paloma Paris was waiting to head home Carey's third goal of the afternoon.
After the early scoring surge, Carey briefly cooled off before striking again in the 25th minute. Mustered drove toward the end line and played a perfectly weighted cross to
Sara Aguirre, who finished with one touch to extend the lead to 4-0.
The floodgates opened from there. Four minutes later, Raquel Royo converted off a corner kick from Aguirre, and Sabrina Ramos Camatta added another goal off a cross from Aguirre to push the Lady Crusaders' advantage to 7-0 before halftime.
The offense slowed coming out of the break, but an own goal in the 50th minute extended the Carey lead to 8-0.
Paola Alvarez added another in the 64th minute to make it 9-0 before Faulkner found the back of the net a minute later.
That would be all the Lady Eagles could manage, however, as the Carey defense locked down over the final 25 minutes, allowing just one shot on goal. Alvarez capped the scoring in the final minute with her second goal of the match, sealing the 10-1 victory.
The Lady Crusaders return to action Thursday, Nov. 5, when they travel to Montgomery, Ala., for the semifinals of the SSAC Championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Emory Folmar YMCA Soccer Complex.
