BUENA VISTA, VA. — The Southern Virginia Women's Soccer team advanced to the program's first USA South Conference Championship Thursday night, using early offensive efforts to take down Mary Baldwin University 2-1 in Knight Stadium.
In the 17
th minute,
Maybel Harris received a pass at the corner of the box and curled a shot with her left foot to the corner of the goal, putting the Knights up 1-0 early on. Southern Virginia kept the pressure up, getting off three more shots in the next seven minutes.
Matia Murray doubled up the Fighting Squirrels in the 34
th minute, scoring on a fast break after a though ball from
Gabriella Ray, shooting it across the goal into the right corner from the left side of the box.
At the end of the first half, Southern Virginia outshot Mary Baldwin 9-3 with recently name Goalkeeper of the Year,
Alyssa Trueman, recording two saves to blank the Squirrels in the first 45.
Both offensive units struggled getting scoring opportunities heading into the second half. In the 73
rd minute, Mary Baldwin got on the board with Shea Rider scoring the team's lone goal of the game, making the score 2-1.
Southern Virginia had two more chances to put another ball in the net with
Lakyn Hansen and
Makinna Winterton recording shots on goal, but Anyka Wilkin kept her team in the game with two big saves. The Knights ran out the rest of the 90 minutes, punching their ticket to the conference championship game.
The championship match is now set as Southern Virginia will travel to Methodist on Saturday, November 5. The Monarchs will look to capture the program's third tournament title, the first since 2017, while the Knights seek to grab the program's first crown.
For more updates and details on the women's soccer team, be sure to follow @knight_wsoc on Instagram and @knightwsoccer on Twitter and visit knightathletics.com for live stats and streaming options.
