The Centre women's soccer team advanced to the championship game of the Southern Athletic Association Tournament for the third straight year with a 2-1 victory over No. 1-seeded Berry on Saturday in Danville, Ky.

Though the Vikings came into the game on 11-game winning streak after posting a perfect 7-0 record in SAA play, the Colonels came in playing their best soccer as well, having won their previous four games by a combined score of 19-1. Centre fell to Berry 3-0 during a rough stretch of back-to-back losses during the regular season, but in Saturday's SAA semifinal, the Colonels were able to control possession most of the way and jump out to an early lead. 

Centre went in front for good in the 17th minute when Tori Dillard (Bowling Green, Ky.) bent a corner kick just inside the back post for a goal. The Colonels took that 1-0 lead to halftime, then added to it just three minutes into the second half when Alex Combs (Danville, Ky.) put away a cross in from the right side by Anne Mitchell (Fayetteville, Ark.). 

Berry was able to create some chances late in the contest, but the Vikings found the net just once when Lauren Sykora scored in the 77th minute. Berry had three shot attempts over the remainder of the game, but goalkeeper Olivia Alford (Louisville, Ky.) and the Centre defense were able to preserve the victory. 

Alford had three saves for Centre in the win while Jackie McGivney and Melissa Sanchez had three and two stops respectively while splitting time in net for Berry. Centre had a 14-7 edge in shots while each team took two corners.

With the win, Centre improves to 14-5-1 while Berry drops to 16-3. The Colonels will meet Rhodes on Sunday in a rematch of the 2012 SAA championship game. Game time is set for noon.