Women's soccer team opens national tourney Monday against Laramie County CC

The Eastern Florida State College women's soccer team will open the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament in Evans, Georgia with a familiar foe.

The Titans are 10-2 and the No. 7 seed in the national tournament and will play Laramie County Community College Monday at 12:30 p.m. It will be a rematch from early in the season when Eastern Florida State College went to Wyoming and posted a 2-1 win over the Golden Eagles.

In that matchup, the Titans scored twice in the second half as Samira Roper and Morgan Gamin each scored to post the win over No. 16 Laramie County CC.

 "We played them early in the season and got the win but (head coach) Jim (Gardner) is a legend and a Hall of Famer so we expect a different look from Laramie this time around," Eastern Florida State College women's soccer coach Scott Carswell said. "I think they will be a lot more organized so we are going to have to work harder to break them down, we won't be able to make the mistakes we have in the past and focus on doing the things we do well and staying in it mentally for 90 minutes."

Laramie County CC comes into the matchup on a hot streak, winning four of the last six games and enters as the West Plains District champion.

Eastern Florida State College has won the past four matchups with the Golden Eagles, including a matchup in the national tournament pool play two years ago.

"I think they are in a position they have never been in before, waiting for the at-large bid so there were some nerves but I think once we got the bid, they got their confidence back and are ready to play," Carswell said.

The defending national champions are back in the tournament beginning Monday in Evans, Georgia. You can watch it live here for $10