Box Score WASHINGTON – The Catholic University of America women's soccer team shut out the defending Landmark Champions, Drew University, 7-0 and made conference history with the most goals scored in a semi-final match on Tuesday.
As the top seed in the Landmark Conference, the Cardinals took the field ready to win. They came out and scored six goals in the first half en route to securing their slot in the conference championship contest.
"This was an amazing result for a conference semifinal. I'm so proud of the way our girls came out today and took care of business in the first half. We were intense, focused, and determined," said CUA Head Women's Soccer Coach J.P. Sousa.
Catholic utilized six different goal scorers throughout the match to register their seven goals.
After dominating possession for the majority of the first 15 minutes of the game, the Cards put one in the net at the 15:03 minute mark. Ava Brown sent the ball from outside the right corner of the penalty box to Kaylre Greaves who put it inside the left post for the 1-0 lead.
Brown earned herself another assist just four minutes later when the Cardinals were awarded a free kick. She booted the ball into the six-yard box and Tricia Colucci used her head to send it into the net for her first goal of the season, bringing the Cards to a 2-0 score.
The Cardinals were awarded another free kick in the 37th minute. Sarah Madden lobbed the direct shot over the heads of the Royals' defense and goalkeeper, straight into the back of the net for Catholic's third goal of the competition.
One minute after Madden's unassisted goal, the Cards went on a scoring spree, creating three more goals within a three-minute time frame.
In the 38th minute, Alexis Garcia dropped a pass to Kirsten Wosleger in the bottom left corner of the field. Wosleger took the shot, bending it inside the right post, to take a 4-0 lead.
Just 30 seconds later, CUA had the ball back inside the 6-yard box. Wosleger tapped a pass to the left post and Garcia put it over the goal line.
Garcia's second goal of the match came in the 40th minute of play. From outside the 18-yard box, Nia Gomez sent the ball flying at the left post and onto the head of Garcia, who put in the goal for the 6-0 halftime Cardinal lead.
After the intermission, the Cardinals cashed in one more one more goal in the net to clinch the Landmark semi-final win.
That goal came in the 78th minute, when Gomez passed the ball down the middle of the box and Lindsay Aleman found an opportunity to put one past the Royals' keeper.
"The second half was all about finishing the game, and we got a total team effort in the final 45 minutes to lock things down and not allow Drew any breathing room. That was what we needed to carry us into Saturday's championship game," said Sousa.
When the buzzer sounded after 90 minutes of soccer the scoreboard read 7-0 in favor of the Cardinals and locked in CUA's participation in the 2014 Landmark Conference Championship contest.
At the end of competition, Catholic outshot Drew 24-4. All of the Royals' shots were on target and Lexi Halperin made all four saves for her ninth shutout of the season.
The Landmark Conference Championship game will be held at The Catholic University of America on Saturday, November 8. The CUA women's soccer team will take on the winner of the November, 5 semi-final game featuring No. 3 Scranton at No. 2 Elizabethtown. The time of the final match has not yet been determined.
Notes: This is Catholic's fourth overall appearance in the Landmark Conference Finals and first since 2011. In 2011 the Cardinals fell 2-0 to Scranton in the finals.
In 2008 the Cards were defeated 1-0 in overtime by Moravian.
CUA women's soccer won the championship in 2009 with a 1-0 win over Susquehanna. The Cardinals were the top seed going into the 2009 tournament and played the semi-final and finals match at home.
