Titans Move to 12-0 With 3-1 Sophomore Night Victory
Oct. 24, 2015 - Eastern Florida's women's soccer team scored three goals in seven minutes in the second half to defeat Polk State College 3-1 on Saturday.
The victory at the Titan Soccer Complex on the Melbourne Campus moved nationally No. 1-ranked Eastern Florida to 12-0 overall and to within one game of the first undefeated regular season in the program's six-year history.
The Titans complete the regular season on Friday at Florida College System Activities Association/NJCAA Region 8 foe Broward College in Pembroke Pines before traveling to Mississippi the weekend of Nov. 6 for the NJCAA District H final. The winner advances to the NJCAA Women's Division I National Championship tournament to be played Nov. 16-21 on the Melbourne Campus.
The Titans have reached the postseason for the fifth straight year and are seeking their fourth straight national tournament berth.
Saturday's victory over FCSAA/Region 8 foe Polk did not come without a struggle. The visitors played Eastern Florida to a 0-0 halftime tie that was preserved by sparkling defensive plays on both sides.
Eastern Florida freshman defender Audrey Bone, standing at the right post, headed away a Polk shot off a corner kick with 23 minutes to play in the first half and Polk goalkeeper Sarah McKinney denied Eastern Florida freshman Julia Hernandez at point blank range with 6:23 to go.
But Hernandez finally solved McKinney, beating her twice. The first goal came with 25:50 to play on an assist from classmate Paula Astiazaran, her 16th, and the second with 23:14 to go on an assist from sophomore Abbie Camargo, her 15th.
Astiazaran scored her 20th goal with 18:53 to play on Briana Camargo's 19th assist for a 3-0 Eastern Florida lead.
Polk's Brooke McKillen netted for the Eagles with 6:40 to play to make it 3-1.
Eastern Florida improved to 5-0 in the FCSAA/Region 8. Polk fell to 3-9 overall and 0-5. Eastern Florida earlier beat Polk 3-1 and 7-1 and Broward 7-0 and 5-0 to earn the postseason berth.
Eastern Florida recognized 11 sophomores on Saturday who played their final regular-season home game.
Honored were Nicole Broderick; Abbie Camargo; Briana Camargo; Haley Cook; Arnela Cordic; Kaleigh Davis; Kassidee Davis; Serena Delgado; Asmara Holmes; Rosalina Lindo and Helen Ramsey.
"It's bittersweet," said Cook, a defender, who played in every game – 28 – so far in her career. "We're so excited to go and move on and go forward with our season but every game we know we are getting closer to the end of being with this team and playing here.
"It's said but we're so excited for the rest of the season. Last year we did really well (losing in national semifinal) and we kept most of the people on the team who did really well I knew that going forward that we could only get better."
This sophomore class has a two-season record of 25-1-2. The Titans scored 131 goals and allowed 18.