Lady Pioneers drop opener, 7-0 to #1 Eastern Florida State

BREVARD COUNTY, FL - Eastern Florida's women's soccer team started slowly but poured it on in the second half to open the NJCAA Women's Division I Soccer Championship tournament with a 7-0 victory over Spartanburg Methodist on Monday.

Playing on their home field at the Titan Soccer Complex on the Melbourne Campus the Titans, the nation's No. 1 team and the tournament's top seed improved, to 15-0.

Spartanburg Methodist the 12th seed among 12 teams and with one scholarship divided between the team and a student body of only 800, fell to 13-8. In comparrison, Eastern Florida State has 18 full scholarships and enrollment numbers near 20,000.

Eastern Florida plays again at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday playing eight-seeded Pima Community College, meeting Spartanburg Methodist plays Pima at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The Titans led 2-0 at halftime but owned the second half, scoring five times.

Eastern Florida scored first when second-leading scorer Julia Hernandez beat Spartanburg Methodist goalkeeper Lara Jackson (Laurens, SC / Laurens High) just six minutes and 18 seconds into the game.

After several close calls including a diving save by Eastern Florida goalkeeper Steff Barreras, the Titans went ahead 2-0 as leading scorer Paula Astiazaran, who finished with three goals, found an empty net after a shot by Khadija Shaw drew out Jackson.

Hernandez collected her second goal with 43:10 to play to make it 3-0 on a nifty assist from Abbie Camargo.

Khadija Shaw made it 4-0 on an assist from Astiazaran with 37:19 to go.

It was 5-0 with 28:28 to go after Astiazaran beat Jackson on a header. Three minutes later Astiazaran converted a feed from Kassidee Davis to make it 6-0.

Abbie Camargo made it 7-0 on a breakaway with 6:23 to go.

The victory capped a day when the four lower seeds, who all lost, did not score a goal.

"We got the job done but the first half we missed a lot of chances," said Eastern Florida head coach Jeff Carr. "We had more than 30 shots, I know we had 17 in the first half, two or three breakaways. You've got to put those away if you are going to win a national championship.

"It reminded me of the Polk game where we let them stay in the game and then we figured it out in the second half.

"Steff did what she needed to do. She was switched on. Sometimes we get a little lazy, not switched on, especially defensively and we weren't very good in the first half defensively. We got a lot more organized in the second half. We played a lot better."

For her part Astiazaran looked at the big picture.

"I was really nervous but once I started playing I was not nervous at all," she said. "The most important thing is the how the team was playing. In the first half we didn't finish the chances we had but in the second half we finished them. I'm happy for that. In the second half we figured it out. Everyone was looking for each other, working hard for each other."

Spartanburg Methodist head coach Dan Kenneally took the defeat in stride.

"We played well the first half," he said. "There's a reason why they're No. 1 in the country. They're a very good team. Second half we got a couple of injuries and it showed.

"Tomorrow's another day. This is the first time we've been in the tournament. It's a good experience for them. We're here having fun and proving that we can play with the big boys. We're the smallest school here by far. 

"We compete. Don't let it fool you. Second half their depth came into play."

Jackson had 18 saves in the match, 9 saves in each half. Heather Blaszak (Goose Creek, SC / Stratford High) had two shots on goal while Lexi Garcia (Greenville, SC / Wade Hampton High) had one shot on goal. Eastern Florida out shot the Pioneers 33-3

Eastern Florida State's Astiazaran now has 28 goals and Hernandez 24. Shaw has nine goals in eight games.

Email:  decotism@easternflorida.edu