Athenas Beat Slugs, Fall To Cowgirls In NCAA Tournament
The CMS Women's Soccer team's successful 2009 season has come to an end with a NCAA second round loss to Hardin-Simmons on Sunday. The Athenas' regular season record earned them hosting rights for the first and second rounds. On Saturday, the team battled UC Santa Cruz. The Banana Slugs came out fast and scored in the seventh minute and had several more dangerous chances. The Athenas fought back to tie the score less than eight minutes later as junior Laura Hagen (Bellevue, WA) found sophomore Julia Nishioka (Honolulu, HI) in the box for a header into the goal. The second half saw both teams create opportunities with Santa Cruz outshooting the Athenas 13-9 (21-16 overall), but Hagen came up with the winning goal in the 69th minute. The defense held for the last 20 minutes and the Athenas advanced to the second round of the NCAA's for the second straight year. In the other game of the day, Hardin-Simmons University beat University of Puget Sound 1-0, setting up Sunday's game of CMS vs. Hardin-Simmons.
Sunday's game was a battle for the Athenas. CMS started out well and created some dangerous opportunities in the first few minutes, but then Hardin-Simmons came back and outshot the Athenas 7-4 and earned eight corner kicks in the first half. In the last minute of the first half, Hardin-Simmons got off a cross that ended in a ball being headed in near post to put CMS down 1-0. CMS came out in the second half with renewed energy and desire and in the 50th minute, junior Liz Van Buskirk (San Rafael) scored to even the game 1-1. CMS continued to create in the next 15 minutes but could not put in a go-ahead goal against a tough Hardin-Simmons defense that had only three goals against all season coming into the game. Then, Hardin-Simmons put in two goals within 4 minutes near the 75 minute mark to put the game out of reach for the Athenas. CMS continued to battle until the end, but the game ended with Hardin-Simmons winning 3-1.
Overall, it was one of the best CMS Women's Soccer seasons with an overall record of 16-3-2 and a conference record of 10-0-2. We say goodbye to the most accomplished senior class in CMS history with two SCIAC championships, three SCIAC Tournament championships, three NCAA bids and one trip to the Sweet 16. They are: GK Camila Friedman-Gerlicz (Santa Fe, NM), F Giselle Galanto (Duarte), D Kelsey Rose (Irvine), D Courtney Funk (Sutter Creek) and MF Nicole Sady-Kennedy (Ladera Ranch). We will miss them and appreciate all they have given to this team. They have set the bar high and the team hopes to continue with the success.
