Fayette, Mo. - The No. 1 seeded Central Methodist women's soccer team took down No. 5 Benedictine College by a score of 2-1 in the Heart Semifinals Wednesday night in Fayette, Mo.
With the win, Central advances to the Heart Championship match for the third-straight season.
The first half was very balanced as both teams maintained even possession of the ball and remained scoreless at halftime. In the first 45 minutes of action, Central took three shots while Benedictine attempted two.
The Ravens grabbed the lead in the 51st minute, after a ball bounced around inside the CMU box and Annabelle Hoog scored to give Benedictine a 1-0 lead.
Not even 30 seconds later, the Eagles crossed a ball into the box and the Ravens scored an own goal to tie the game at 1-1. In the 75thminute, Alicia Zamora put a ball in the box, which was blocked and deflected by the Ravens' goalkeeper, giving Elli McCabe the opening to score the game winning goal for the Eagles.
Both teams had opportunities to score in the last 25 minutes but CMU was able to hold their 2-1 lead to clinch a spot in the championship match.
CMU finished the game with 10 shots against six for the Ravens. Nely Martinez led the team with four shots with three being on frame. Anika Kallash and Lidia Vicente de Vera both added two shots. McCabe and Sandra Jakobsen both collected one shot, with McCabe's finding the back of the net. Zamora finished with one assist.
Sheila Sanchez played a full game in goal finishing with three saves and one goal allowed.
No. 1 CMU will face Heart rival No. 3 Missouri Valley College on Saturday, April 10 for the Heart Conference Tournament Championship at 8:00 p.m. at Davis Field. Central will look to claim its second-straight conference tournament banner.
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