CONWAY, Ark. – Centre field hockey punched its ticket to the Southern Athletic Association Championship once again, defeating Concordia (WI), 5-0, in Saturday's semifinal at Hendrix College.
The Colonels (12-3) have now appeared in all seven SAA Championship matches since the league formed in 2012, and are looking to repeat after a title run in 2016. The Falcons finish their season 7-8 overall.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Centre jumped on Concordia with a trio of early goals, beginning with
Caroline Brotzge's unassisted score barely two minutes in.
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Emily Schank would double the lead on an assist from
Savannah Elpers in the 7th minute, and Elpers made it 3-0 roughly 65 seconds later.
Olivia Carter provided the helper.
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Kara Tipton scored her second goal of the campaign midway through the opening period, giving the Colonels a 4-0 lead at halftime.
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Kristen Mulcahy turned aside all three Falcon shots on goal in the first half.
- Elpers put away her team-leading 19th goal of the season early in the second period, capping the scoring as the Colonels kept the Falcons off the board the rest of the way.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Mulcahy recorded six total saves while completing her seventh shutout of the year.
- Centre out-shot Concordia 29-9 (17-6 SOG), and has finished with more attempts than its opponent in 14 of 15 games.
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Alana Pugh tallied a pair of defensive saves in the win.
UP NEXT
Centre will meet Rhodes yet again in Sunday's SAA title bout. It marks the seventh consecutive season the two will battle for the conference crown, with Centre winning the most recent SAA Championship game, 4-1. The Colonels defeated the Lynx 3-1 earlier this regular season.
