ORANGE BEACH, Ala. --
For the Spring Arbor University women's soccer team, it was the deepest run in the NAIA National Tournament in program history, and it came to an end in the Semi-Final match against the Lindsey Wilson College Blue Raiders 2-1.
The Cougars struck first with a goal in the 22nd minute when Karly Linton hit a sneaky shot from 17 yards out that either surprised Blue Raider Keeper Josephine Frigge or she didn't see it as it rolled past her right side into the left side of the net to lift the Cougars to 1-0 lead.
The entire first half was played a closely as it could have been played with each team getting off eight shots each. The difference being that Lindsey Wilson got four of their shots on goal and SAU goal keeper Sarah Yancer was extremely solid stopping all of them.
The second half was an entirely different story. To put it as simply as possible; "We just ran out of gas," said Coach Jason Crist. "We left everything out on the field. There was nothing left in the tank."
Lindsey Wilson took a huge advantage in shots in the second half out-shooting the Cougars 16-2 in the last 45 minutes. Yancer could stop most of the barrage, but she couldn't stop all of them. The Blue Raiders had a lot of good looks in the second half. Lindsey scored in the 67th, and 79th minute for the tying and winning goals.
For this year's seniors; they will leave the program as the winningest class in school history. Hannah Adams, Maegan Smith, Cheyenne Martinez-Trevino, Braydan Wiles, and Megan Wegener they accumulated 69 wins in their fours years at the Arbor. Martinez-Trevino and Smith both spent a year in another program before enrolling at SAU.
The loss completes the Cougars season with 20 wins against three losses and two ties. The 20 wins marks the first time in program history that they reached the 20 win plateau.
Lindsey Wilson advances to the NAIA Championship final and will play Olivet Nazarene University who tied four time defending champion Lee University. ONU advances to the final with a 4-1 advantage in PK's.
