Nov. 22—After a strong first half from Brenna Swiger, Cumberland’s women defended their home field against the Bobcats from St. Thomas University, winning their NAIA second-round match 2-1 last Saturday at Lindsey Donnell Stadium.
Dominating the opening 15 minutes of the game, the Phoenix had several dangerous shots and were unlucky to see a Brenna Swiger shot rocket off the crossbar and down into the ground just in front of the goalkeeper for the Bobcats. Swiger would not be denied again though, finding herself with another attempt on goal in the sixth minute of the first half.
Feeding her a ball through the defense, she smashed a shot off the goalkeeper and saw an open net for her second attempt on the frame. Using her left foot, she broke the game wide open, putting the Phoenix ahead early.
The Bobcats had plenty of time to recover though, clawing their way back into this second-round matchup. Eclipsing the twenty minutes mark, St. Thomas gathered five shots on goal to Cumberland’s two and pulled all of the momentum onto their side.
Being honored before the game, the Bobcat’s Champions of Character representative and captain, Alexandra Santiago, showed up in a big way. Taking the ball down the left wing, Santiago went on a tremendous run and finished her shot at the first post, bringing the game level.
Dealing with St. Thomas’ high pressing attack, the Phoenix had to take their chances on the counter. Continuing her marauding first half, Swiger linked up with Gabby Jones to put Cumberland ahead again and score what was eventually the game-winning goal.
Although the Bobcats deflected the initial pass from Jones, Swiger gathered her composure and scored an impressive overhead kick. Her first half was something to marvel at, putting up seven shots, four of those on goal, and scored the Phoenix’s two goals.
Action was constant through the second half, with St. Thomas pushing their line as high as possible, forcing nearly double-digit Phoenix offsides calls.
Ensuring that Cumberland stayed ahead, Sabrina Graziano played one of her best games all season, matching her single-game high for saves with seven. Countless times she was called upon to not just make great saves, but to save the Phoenix’s season, and countless times she answered.
With the game ending in favor of the No. 11-seed Phoenix, they have still yet to lose when hosting the opening round of the tournament. Cumberland will now travel to the final site in Foley, Ala., where they will play Hope International University next Tuesday.
No. 11 Missouri Valley men blitz Cumberland in NAIA nationalsMARSHALL, Mo. — Missouri Valley’s men blitzed Cumberland in the first half and adds three more goals in the second leading the whole way to get a 6-3 win and ending the Phoenix’s national tournament run.
Cumberland conceded just three goals one time in the season opener and the Vikings posted three in the first half before adding three more in the second half. The Phoenix allowed just 12 goals all season coming into the match and hadn’t lost since Sept. 27.
The No. 11-seed Missouri Valley Vikings fired 12 shots with eight on goal and scored six goals. Cumberland posted seven shots with four on target. Cumberland had three corners scoring on one and the Vikings had six converting on one as well.
Robbie Lyons scored two goals for Cumberland while Kam Stanley added a goal in the final minutes. John Azar, Cathal Coyne and Brima Kamara each had assists in the game.
The first half the Vikings blitzed Cumberland with three goals in the first 22 minutes of the match. Missouri Valley scored in the 12th minute as Sam Green passed it across the top of the box to Yoshiki Igarashi and he went far post for the early goal.
Just three minutes later, Edvin Grevskott had the ball in Cumberland’s box and Green stole it from him with Kerim Akpinar closing in. Green dished it to Akpinar in a 2-o -1 situation with Jack McCarthy and Akpinar had a wide open goal to push it to 2-0.
In the 22nd minute, Green played a perfect ball on a corner kick and Malik Hasanovikj headed it home past McCarthy for a 3-0 lead.
Cumberland responded a minute later, as senior Coyne played a perfect long ball over the top to catch Lyons in stride. Lyons went far post for the goal where the score stood at 3-1 at the half.
Early in second half, the Phoenix made it a one score game as Azar played it in on a corner kick and Lyons this time headed home to cut it to 3-2.
With the momentum fully on Cumberland’s side as they tried to surmount the comeback, Missouri Valley got a gut-punching goal as Kazuki Hashimoto found Akpinar for a header and a goal in the 63rd minute.
Just 30 second later, Alex Carillo tried to make a slide tackle in the box and was whistled for the foul allowing Green to step up to the spot and bury a penalty kick for a 5-2 lead.
Trying to make a play, Joaquin Carillo committed a foul on a clear goal scoring opportunity, sending him off with a red and giving the Vikings a crack at the goal from just outside of the box. Hasanovikj stepped up and buried it in the upper right corner of the goal for a 6-2 lead.
In the closing minutes, Stanley found a goal, but it was too late for Cumberland to get back in this match.
Missouri Valley moved on to the final site for the seventh-straight season while Cumberland fell still seeking its first national tournament win.
Cumberland’s season ended with a 12-5-3 and a Mid-South Conference tournament title.