California Baptist University
Azusa Pacific
GONE IN 240 SECONDS
11/6/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Box Score
AZUSA, Calif. --- For more than 70 minutes Tuesday, it appeared as if California Baptist was going to have to make a mad rush at booking a handful of airline flights to Florida for next week's NAIA Tournament.
Then, in a matter of four minutes, all flights were grounded.
Trailing 1-0 in the 75th minute, the NAIA's No. 2-ranked Azusa Pacific unleashed its fury on the Lancers, scoring four goals in a 4:11 span to completely blow open a tight game and roll to a 4-1 win over CBU in the finals of the 2007 NAIA Region II Women's Soccer Playoffs.
The loss ends the Lancers' season at 13-5-2, and despite finishing second in both the best women's soccer conference and region in the NAIA and beating Point Loma Nazarene twice during the season, the Sea Lions will likely earn one of the few remaining at-large berths to next week's national tournament. The Lancers got the results, yet will be staying home.
“You'd like to see teams get rewarded for their results,” said CBU head coach Kristen St. Clair, whose 13 wins are the most by a Lancer head coach in their first season. “We would have liked to get into the national tournament through the front door. These kids have laid the foundation for us to be a premiere program on the West Coast, so it's unfortunate that they don't get to go, but we can't dwell on it. If nothing else, this is the first step in the process of what we want to accomplish, which is to get to the national tournament next year.”
The Cougars, meanwhile, improve to 17-1-1 and wrap up the region's automatic bid, although they didn't need it as they will likely be a top three seed at the NAIA Tournament.
Azusa Pacific's two-time All-GSAC Theresa Broad scored the first three goals of the onslaught and then assisted on the final goal.
It only took the Lancers 2:05 to do what it wanted to do?score the first goal. All-GSAC freshman Jacquelyn Witz connected on one of her trademarks when she took a pass from Lizzy Bendrick on the top left corner of the box and hammered her 12th goal of the season over All-American keeper Jill Colfer-Martinson and to the far post. That was the Lancers' only shot of the half.
“Anytime you can get up early on a great team, it builds confidence,” said St. Clair. “It gave us the chance to set the tempo, and we were able to hold it for awhile until we ran into some adversity. One-goal leads are difficult against great teams, and you have to do so much to hold it. To APU's credit they kept coming at us.”
Indeed, the Cougars began an onslaught, eventually out-shooting the Lancers, 23-3, including 15-2 in the second half. It didn't help the Lancers' cause either when they were dealt a costly blow in the 31st minute. All-GSAC defender Jenna Oltmanns, the anchor of the CBU defense, banged heads with Broad and was forced to leave the field with an open gash above her eye. By the time she was able to return the result was no longer in doubt.
Oltmanns' departure forced St. Clair to adjust her lineup and thus the floodgates began to open, and the Cougars' chances increased. Before Oltmanns departure, the Cougars had just five shots. In the 59 minutes after she left, they ripped off 18.
“When Jenna went down that made things tough,” said St. Clair. “One person doesn't change the game, but we had to completely change the way we were going about things, and that in turn altered the flow of the game.”
Still, the Lancers seemed headed for the improbable, mostly due in large part to Emily Evanson, who made a handful of incredible diving saves. Then, out of nowhere, the Cougars finally capitalized on their many chances.
“We needed to reestablish possession and we weren't sharp at doing that,” said St. Clair. “Emily came up with some spectacular saves and our defense did a decent job of nullifying most of those. As the game wore on, though, we got away from what we needed to do and we got out of rhythm. APU was very industrious today.”
Broad scored the first three goals in a 2:06 span?the first one when she cleaned up a scramble in the box, the second on a header off a cross from the left, and the third when she beat the Lancer defense to a ball played over the top. She then got on the other side, assisting Katie Rorabaugh's sixth goal of the season to cap the scoring in the 79th minute.
Evanson finished with eight saves, just one shy of her season-high. Only three times this season the Lancers have allowed more than one goal. Two of those were to Azusa Pacific.
“It was still a great year, and for us the key is perspective,” said St. Clair. “We were up on the No. 2 team in the nation for 70 minutes. When you get to this point of the season, the reality of the situation is that all but one team will lose their last game. It's our long-term goal to be that last team standing, and this is the first step.”
