By Bradley Melchor
After a stellar performance in the regular season, the UMHB Women’s Soccer team went into the weekend hoping to crown themselves American Southwest Conference Champions for the second time in program history.
The Cru traveled to Abilene for their semi-final matchup with McMurry University on Thursday night, hoping for a repeat of their performance in a 2-0 victory over the Warhawks during the regular season.
The Crusaders opened the scoring late in the first half, with senior midfielder and captain Kelsey White finding the back of the net to give the Cru a 1-0 lead going into halftime. The Crusaders would double their advantage just three minutes onto the second half as senior forward Mackenzie Worthy scored her eleventh goal of the season to give the Cru a 2-0 lead. The Warhawks would cut the deficit in half with a goal late in the half, but the Crusaders would survive this late comeback attempt and advance to the conference final with a 2-1 victory.
The tournament hosts, Hardin-Simmons University, also advanced to the final after a swift 4-0 victory over Howard Payne University, setting up a rematch between the bitter arch-rivals.
In a game that would have capped off a historic undefeated season and saw the Cru bring home a second consecutive ASC Championship, the Crusaders battled hard but ultimately fell short to a HSU winner in the seventieth minute to lose 1-0.
Despite suffering the heartbreak of defeat in the conference final, the Crusaders’ dominant regular season performance was enough to see them earn an at-large bid and host the first two rounds of the NCAA DIII National Tournament. The Cru will welcome the visiting Emory University for their first round matchup on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m.
