HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Lady Crusaders booked their place in the SSAC Tournament semi-final with a comfortable 6-1 victory over Dalton State on Thursday afternoon.
Despite the early kick-off, the Lady Crusaders came out all guns blazing as they opened the scoring in the 5th minute. Ella Jefcoat found Alyssia Davis inside the Roadrunner box. Davis then found the feet of Karen Vilau who drilled the ball past Brooke Alvarez in the Dalton net.
Carey didn't sit back and continued to attack the Dalton goal and had their second not before long. A Christina Salmon shot was well saved by Alvarez, forcing the corner. Rocio Fernandez took the resulting corner, put it close enough to Alvarez to force her out to try and claim it. Alvarez could only flap at the ball and force it on to the head of Esalenna Galekhutle at the back post who headed home in the 12th minute.
The Lady Crusaders kept up the onslaught for the rest of half but could not find their third goal. The Crusaders outshot the Roadrunners 10-0 and outscored them on corners 5-0.
All WCU's pressure paid off shortly into the second half as they had their 3rd within two minutes of the restart. Salmon let fly from 20 yards out but her shot was blocked. The rebound fell to the feet of Kokona Nishikawa, who then beat her defender and fired home at the near post.
60 minutes into the game and Dalton State would muster their first shot on target, and unfortunately for the Lady Crusaders, it would result in a goal. Abigail Aman's inswinging corner dropped to Marissa Gonzalez inside the six-yard box who promptly tapped the ball home. Dalton State had a goal and a way back into the game.
Dalton State had some momentum and continued the attack, going in search of another goal, hoping to cut the deficit further. Salmon put those hopes to rest as she knocked in Carey's fourth to demoralize the Roadrunners. Salmon ran on to a Fernandez through ball, blazed past the onrushing Alvarez, and knocked the ball into the empty net.
The final 20 minutes fizzled out with Carey controlling possession and looking to extend their lead. Dalton State never had another sniff at goal and Carey had one foot in the semi-final.
With two minutes left on the clock Zalma Torres would add another two to put the icing on the cake. Both goals mirror images of each other. Tiare Hermosilla driving down the left and Lesley Vasquez driving down the right both crossed the ball for Torres to tap in inside the six-yard box. The Lady Crusaders ran out 6-1 winners and booked their place in the SSAC Tournament semi-final.
The Lady Crusader's semi-final gets underway at 1:30 PM on November 7th in Montgomery, Ala. They play the winner of Life & Middle Georgia.
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