Birmingham, Alabama - The top-seeded
Trinity Tigers women won their third straight Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference Championship with a 4-0 shutout over the No. 3
Centre Colonels on Sunday afternoon.
Trinity, led by eighth-year head coach Lance Key, also earned a
slot in the NCAA Division III playoffs, which begin Friday, Nov.
11.
The Tigers (20-0-0), ranked third in the nation, won their sixth
SCAC title under coach Key's leadership, and the 16th overall. It
will also mark their seventh NCAA Tournament in eight years, and
17th overall. Official invitations will be issued Monday.
The six-team SCAC event was the first time since 1992 the
conference used a tournament format to determine the champion.
Senior forward Kelly Watts (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Preparatory)
opened the scoring in the 19th minute, with an assist from
first-year midfielder Hannah Kuhl (Austin, Texas/Austin High).
Watts scored the game-winning goal for the second-straight day, as
she fired in the first score in Saturday's 5-0 semifinal victory
over Rhodes. She has scored three goals this season, with two of
them game-winners.
It would be the only goal of the tightly played first half, with
Trinity holding a 6-4 edge over Centre in total shots. Starting
junior goalkeeper Katie Garrett (Joshua, Texas/Joshua) registered a
save in the first half of play, and has 14 saves this season.
The second half was a different story, with the Tigers outshooting
the Colonels 13-2. Trinity led the game 19-6 in total shots, and
10-2 in shots on the mark.
First-year midfielder Emily Jorgens (Austin, Texas/Westwood) scored
in the 55th minute, registering her 13th goal of the campaign.
Jorgens was assisted by first-year forward Stephanie Segovia (Buda,
Texas/Hays) and senior All-America forward Abby Loar (Littleton,
Colo./Heritage).
Segovia produced her seventh assist of the season, and, along
with 23 goals, leads the Tigers with 53 points.
Loar chalked up her 18th goal of the year, in the 56th minute, on
an assist from junior midfielder Lauren Henderson (Fullerton,
Calif./Troy). This season, Loar has accounted for 18 goals and 11
assists, for 47 points. She is Trinity's all-time scoring and
points leader, having amassed 55 goals, 34 assists, and 144 total
points.
The final touch of the game was a solo shot by sophomore forward
Shelby Guenthardt (Winter Springs, Fla./Winter Springs) in the 89th
minute of play. Guenthardt scored her 10th goal, and the Tigers
recorded their 17th shutout of the year.
First-year goalkepper Devan Osegueda (San Diego, Calif./The
Bishop's School) played the second half and made a save, her 10th
of the season.
Last season, Trinity advanced to the NCAA playoffs and shut out
Puget Sound 2-0 in the opening round at Abilene, Texas. Eventual
NCAA champion Hardin-Simmons edged the Tigers 2-1 in the second
round.
Trinity and San Antonio Sports will co-host, for the third straight
year, the NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Soccer Championship
semifinals and finals Dec. 2-3 at Blossom Soccer Stadium.
