Georgetown, Texas – The No. 3 seed Centenary women's soccer team blanked the No. 6 seed Schreiner Mountaineers, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 SCAC Women's Soccer Championship hosted by Southwestern University at Varsity Field on Friday in what was a historic win for the Centenary program.
The Ladies improved to 16-2 overall and 7-2 in SCAC play and with the victory, set a program record for wins in a season in any era, division 1 or division III. The 1995 and 1996 teams each won 16 games. Centenary has set division III era (2011-present) team records this season for wins (16), goals (47), assists (39), points (132), and shots (327).
Friday's win also marked the first victory in a conference tournament in school history (1992-present). The Ladies advanced to the semifinals in 2017, in head coach Greg Cathell's first season, on penalty kicks after a tie against Southwestern. The Ladies, now 7-1 away from home this season, defeated Schreiner for the second time after recording a 4-1 win last month in Kerrville.
The Ladies advance to face host and No. 2 seed Southwestern (15-4, 6-2 SCAC) in Saturday's second semifinal match set for 1:30 p.m. The teams will be squaring off for the second time in just seven days following a 2-1 victory by the Pirates this past Sunday in double overtime at Mayo Field in the regular-season finale for both. Centenary and Southwestern tied for second placed during the regular season with 6-2 conference marks, but the win in double OT earned the Pirates the No. 2 seed this weekend.
"Today was a hard-fought win for us in the quarterfinals as Schreiner really came to play," said Cathell. It was only fitting that two freshmen delivered both the game-winning assist and game-winning goal."
"We now look forward to what promises to be another hard-fought match on Saturday in the semifinals against host school Southwestern."
Dallas blanked Texas Lutheran, 2-0, in the first quarterfinal match on Friday and will face regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Trinity at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the first semifinal. Saturday's winners will meet in the championship match on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Centenary dominated statistically throughout the first half but could not find the net in cold and windy conditions, but Schreiner (5-12-3, 1-7-1 SCAC) was not threatening on offense and the Ladies were getting scoring chances. Ladies freshman midfielder Ariel Muller (Groves, Texas) finally broke the scoreless tie with just 43 seconds remaining in the first half as she scored her fourth goal of the season to put the Ladies up 1-0 at halftime off the assist from fellow freshman Katie Hines (Conway, Ark.).
Centenary dominated the first 45 minutes, holding a decisive 17-1 advantage in shots and had seven shots on goal to zero for Schreiner. The Ladies also took seven corner kicks to none for the Mountaineers. The second half did not feature as many shots for Centenary, but their stingy defense and superb management possessing the ball kept Schreiner off balance. Freshman goalkeeper Karlie Delhommer (St. Amant, La.) made a key save late in the match, her only save of the day, as she played all 90 minutes to record the shutout win. The Ladies wound up with a 20-4 advantage in shots on Friday and took 9 corner kicks to just one for the Mountaineers.
The Maroon and White's record-breaking season has featured explosive offense, consistency, and solid defense. Centenary has outscored the opposition, 47-20, this season and have held their opponents to one goal or less 13 times in 19 matches this season. The Ladies also rank second in the conference in five major team statistical categories (assists, assists per game, goals, goals per game, and points), and rank third in shots.
Centenary placed four players on the 2019 Southern Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Soccer All-SCAC Team on Thursday, highlighted by Boldrin being named the 2019 SCAC Offensive Player of the Year. She was also a First Team selection and joined by Montes. Senior midfielder Betza Bravo (Katy, Texas) was a Second Team selection and freshman midfielder Yosi Bouslog (Friendswood, Texas) earned Honorable Mention honors.
Boldrin leads the SCAC in goals (16), shots (94) and points (39) and is tied for the league lead in game-winning goals (4). She also had four multiple-goal games – the most in the SCAC. With her next shot, Boldrin's 94 shots this season are the most shots by a SCAC women's player in a single season since 2014. A two-time SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Week during the regular season, she is second in the SCAC in points per game (2.29) and tied for third in assists (7). In Centenary's eight conference matches during the regular season, she scored a goal or recorded an assist in five of them.
Boldrin is the first player in the current division III era to be named the conference Player of the Year. Montes earned the distinction of being named a First team selection in all three seasons for the Ladies, the only player in the division III era of the program to do so. Bravo was named all-conference for the third time in her career after being named to the Honorable Mention squad in 2017 and to the second team last season.
Montes and Boldrin finished the regular season first and second in the SCAC in points, points per game, goals, goals per game, and game-winning goals. Montes lead the conference in assists, assists per game, whole Boldrin leads in shots and shots per game. The dynamic duo has combined for an astounding 27 goals, 17 assists, 71 points, and eight game-winning goals this season.
Live stats and live video are available for Saturday's match at: www.scacsports.com.
For additional information related to this weekend's event, click here. Bracket
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