CU women advance to MSC soccer finals after 2-0 shutout of No. 25 Bethel | Sports


WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. — Cumberland’s women score two first-half goals Wednesday and the defense posted a clean sheet in the Mid-South Conference semifinals with a 2-0 win over No. 25 Bethel to advance to yesterday’s Mid-South Conference finals against No. 3 Cumberlands.

In the early going, Bethel had the first opportunity as the Wildcats played a long attack over the top to Kalina Stanisic for a one-on-one opportunity with Graziano. Fortunately for Cumberland, Stanisic banged it off the post to keep it level.

After that the Phoenix got the offense going scoring in the 12th minute as Brenna Swiger dropped it off to Mari Sagstad in the box and she slotted it past the keeper to the right post for a 1-0 lead.

In the 32nd minute, Bethel created another opportunity on a counter. The Wildcats had a two-on-one chance and the Mid-South Conference Defensive Player of the Year Grace Morris stepped up and blocked the shot to keep the Phoenix up.

In the second half, Bethel created a couple opportunities with free kicks outside of Cumberland’s box, but the Cumberland defense stood tall and cleared out every chance.

Cumberland had a really good chance to extend the lead when a cross skipped across the box to Jones. She dropped it off with Brenda Cernas at the top of the box, but Bethel blocked Cernas’ shot to keep the score at 2-0.

CU fended off the late urgency from Bethel to get the 2-0 win and advance to the Mid-South Conference Championship.

Cumberland fired off 16 shots in the match with nine on goal while Bethel was only able to get seven shots off and two on target.

Mari Sagstad and Brenna Swiger each netted a goal and an assist in the match while Jones added an assist as well. The goal for Sagstad was her 18th of the season while Swiger picked up her 16th.

Phoenix keeper Sabrina Garziano finished with two saves in the match in Cumberland’s 12th shutout this season.

Cumberland advanced to take on top seed and the tournament and No. 3 overall the University of the Cumberlands on the Patriots’ home pitch for the Mid-South Conference championship yesterday.

Azar gives Phoenix men edge in MSC semifinal victory over PatriotsCOLUMBIA, Ky. — With a win over Freed-Hardeman in the quarterfinals of the Mid-South Conference tournament, Cumberland’s men advanced to the semis where they matched up with the No. 2-seeded University of the Cumberlands on Wednesday.

After conceding in the first half, CU scored twice in the second and upset the Patriots 2-1.

Facing off earlier this season, the battle of the Cumberlands was left to a draw in Lebanon as both teams got on the scoresheet but lacked the edge to pull away.

This semifinal matchup started like many games do between two talented teams, feeling out each other’s formations and tactics. Offense was far from the story of the first half, with both teams battling it out in the midfield.

Cumberland had just two shots at the end of the half, with Thomas Groenhilder putting the fist Phoenix shot on goal in the final minute of the half. The University of the Cumberlands though managed to score from their single shot on goal at the halfway mark, taking a 1-0 lead into halftime.

After the break the Phoenix looked like they had something to prove, applying relentless pressure on the Patriots from the kickoff. Going 45 minutes without a goal, Cumberland forced the issue on the Cumberlands defense and the Patriots made a vital mistake, putting the ball in their own net.

Play continued to shift in the direction of CU, as the No. 2 seed looked increasingly undisciplined after the own goal. Thirteen minutes after the breakthrough, Cumberland found a name reappearing on the box score from their previous matchup.

Having already been the man to level the score with Cumberlands before, John Azar put the Phoenix ahead with his goal this game. Receiving the ball deep in the midfield, Azar went on a solo run down the left side of the field, weaving his way through several Patriots before smashing the ball into the back of the net.

With the lead and all the momentum firmly in hand, the Phoenix’s only job was to maintain their pressure and not allow UC a chance. Doing what they have done all season, the defensive pairing of Cathal Coyne and Alejandro Carrillo reigned over their third of the field and only allowed three shots on goal to the highly touted Patriots attack.

Cumberland will play the winner of No. 1 seed Lindsey Wilson and No. 4 seed Bethel that was played Thursday night. The championship game is to be played at 6 p.m. today.

CU men return to top 25 soccer poll

Cumberland’s men returned to the top-25 poll, checking in Wednesday at No. 23 in the final NAIA poll of the season, announced by the national office in Kansas City.

The Phoenix started the season receiving votes, but after starting the season 0-2-1 quickly dropped out. Since then they have gone 10-2-2 for an overall record of 10-4-3 to make a push to the polls in the closing weeks.

Cumberland finished third in the Mid-South Conference standing going 3-1-2 in league play posting good results against some of the top teams in the country — 0-0 draw at No. 5 Lindsey Wilson, 1-1 draw against No. 19 Cumberlands and a 3-1 win over No. 11 Bethel.

The Phoenix have held opponents to just 11 goals this season for an average of 0.69 goals per game. Lately the Phoenix have added several goals to their total bolstering their goals per game average up above two at 2.06 goals per game.

Cumberland has been led by all-conference selections Robbie Lyons, John Azar and Jack McCarthy announced Wednesday. Azar and Lyons each have seven goals this season to lead the team. Azar and Marcos Perez are tied for the most assists with six. Freshman Philipp Schmidtke has added five goals and two assists.

The back line has been an important part in helping hold opponents to less than a goal per game. Alejandro Carrillo, Cathal Coyne, Edvin Grevskott and Mark Donaldson have worked together to limit shots and chances.

McCarthy has been named the Mid-South Conference Defensive Player of the Week three times this season making 31 saves.

Around the conference, Lindsey Wilson remains the highest-ranked Mid-South Conference team at No. 4. The University of the Cumberlands moved up to No. 16. Cumberland went from unranked to No. 23 and Bethel fell from No. 11 to No. 25.

Mid-America Christian remains the No. 1 team in the NAIA at 16-0-3. Dalton State checks in at No. 2 followed by St. Thomas at No. 3. Lindsey Wilson stays put at No. 4 and Grace stays put at No. 5.

Women 13th in final pollCumberland’s women finished the regular season ranked at No. 13 in the final NAIA top 25 soccer poll of the year Wednesday.

Going into Wednesday’s Mid-South Conference semifinal match with Bethel, the Phoenix sat with a 13-1-3 record dropping just one contest this season to No. 3 Cumberlands. The Phoenix were scoring on average 4.41 goals per match and have conceded just nine goals in 17 matches with 11 shutouts.

Cumberland ranked fifth in goals scored (75), fourth in shots per game (219), third in assists (75) and 13th in shutouts (11).

The Phoenix had nine players earn All-Conference honors announced Wednesday by the Mid-South Conference. Grace Morris, Mari Sagstad, Yuna Hazekawa and Sabrina Graziano each earned first team honors. Marie Bathe, Brenna Swiger, Brenda Cernas, Lucia Mei and Celia Rodriguez were named second team recipients.

William Carey remained the consensus No. 1 team in the NAIA with an 18-0-0 record and all 18 first-place votes. Defending national champions Spring Arbor is No. 2 followed by the Cumberlands at No. 3. Central Methodist comes in at No. 4 and Columbia rounds out the Top 5 at No. 5.



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