Eagles Downed in the Deep South

KISSIMMEE, Florida--The Eagles' hopes for the school's first-ever national championship were shot down by the Patriots of Arlington Baptist University on Thursday on a warm and rainy afternoon in Central Florida. A goal by the Patriots late in the first half was the difference in a tightly contested 1-0 battle.

The Patriots (#2 seed) were the aggressor for much of the first half, firing off numerous shots across the Eagles' rear line of defense. Faith dodged a Patriot charge less than ten minutes into the contest as Arlington Baptist failed to convert on a two-on-one fast break. Four minutes later, Eagles goalie Alexa LaFleur made a nice save on a missile from Arlington's Genasys Cuellar. Faith's first shot didn't come until the 7:17 mark of the first half.

With less than three minutes to play in the first half, disaster struck for the Eagles. A foul near the penalty area allowed Arlington a series of shots directly into the heart of the Eagles nest. Three consecutive shots by the Patriots compromised the Eagles defense. Despite three saves by LaFleur during the skirmish, the kill shot came off the foot of Alex Cereceres as a bullet sailed through the corner of the net, giving ABU a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, the Eagles became the aggressor, although another round of Patriots' artillery nearly clipped the Eagles' wings as multiple shots bounced off the top crossbar early in the period. Faith had several great opportunities in the final ten minutes of the game as the front lines pressed forward and ramped up the urgency to attack, trailing by just a goal. One of the key moments of the game came on a Kristin Yuan one-on-one fast break with under eight minutes to play. Yuan was shoved hard by the Patriots defender, dropping her to the ground before she could launch a clear shot at ABU's goal. No foul was called, and the Eagles wouldn't have another scoring chance the remainder of the game.

The Eagles were outshot by their opponent 15-3, a trend that has plagued them all season. On the defensive end, they struggled to stop Alex Cereceres, who managed five shots on the afternoon. With the loss, the Eagles will play for a consolation championship for the second time in three years on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. EST against Trinity Baptist. Despite the loss, Coach Barron was pleased with his team's performance.

"Arlington played well," said Barron. "I think they are a very deserving team. They were technical in the midfield. That was their strength. I thought we made some good changes in the second half to try and give us some more opportunities. We fought to the very end. I'm very proud of the girls and how they played today."