PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Senior Lauren Walter broke a level match late in the contest and freshman Marely Fonseca turned in her most impressive outing to date as the No. 19 John Brown University women's soccer team stunned undefeated No. 1 Cumberlands (Ky.) with a 2-1 victory on Monday morning (Dec. 2) at Ashton Brosnaham Park, earning the program's first-ever trip to the NAIA National Championships quarterfinals.
Walter and sophomore Julia Lambert each contributed on two goals with a goal and assist, respectively, and freshman Katherine Keys delivered a precise cross to Walter for the game-winner.
The Golden Eagles (16-5-1) not only made program history, but set a new standard in the NAIA National Championships with its first-ever win at the final site. JBU's upset win is the largest ever in the tournament's history and the highest-ranked opponent the Golden Eagles have ever bested, beating out its win over then-No. 2 William Carey (Miss.) back in 2018.
John Brown improved to 16-0-0 this season when scoring first, and Fonseca made four of her six saves in the second half, allowing the Blue and Gold to seize on the opportunity to break the late draw.
While out-shot 7-2 through the first 45 minutes of action, John Brown started the match with confidence and found the breakthrough in the 24th minute. Lambert buried her team-leading 15th goal of the year, finishing a perfectly timed cross from Walter on the left side of the box. Lambert connected with the cross in the middle of the box and one-touched a shot towards goal, which partially deflected off a Patriot defender and past UC keeper Georgia Martell.
Freshman Bella Mendietta initiated the play by intercepting a Cumberlands throw-in on the left flank before sending Walter down the left sidelines.
With just over 16 minutes left in the first half, Cumberlands (18-1-0) had a dream opportunity as a through ball found a streaking Carola Fontan coming in all alone. Fonseca adeptly came out to challenge and won the battle with a slide tackle outside of the box, diffusing the would-be equalizer.
The defending national champions responded midway through the second half in the 65th minute. Fontan finished a passing play from Nicole Araujo and Jayden Boelter, slotting a clean finish to level the match at one apiece. Despite the shift in momentum, John Brown weathered the storm, and in the 77th minute came the opportunity for Walter to deliver the decisive blow.
John Brown called on Fonseca again for a pair of acrobatic saves, once just prior to the equalizer and again after. Both came against the nation's fourth-leading scorer, Jayden Boelter, who was eyeing her 31st of the season. Fonseca denied her twice, including a wide-open, point-blank screamer that Fonseca was able to get her mitts on to deflect over the crossbar with no room for error.
Ten minutes after the save of the match in the 77th minute, a broken play in the UC offensive third quickly morphed into a potent John Brown counter-attack. Lambert side-stepped a defender and sprinted up field with a numerical advantage. JBU's leading scorer passed off to the right side to Keys, who one-touched a cross into the box. Walter extended her left leg and redirected the service past Martell, her 12th of the season, nine yards from goal in the middle to return the upstart Golden Eagles to a one-goal advantage.
With the lead, the Blue and Gold pressed and carried its momentum through until full time with the visitors out-shooting the Patriots by a 3-2 margin – including senior Kaelyn Mole's shot that hit the right post – over the final 13 minutes of the match.
Fonseca (12-2-0) and the Golden Eagle back line limited the Patriots, which averaged 4.0 goals and nearly 11 shots on goal per game, to only seven attempts on target and kept Boelter out of the goalscoring column. Collectively, the defense forced UC into five offsides, including three times in the second half.
Statistically, the Golden Eagles managed seven shots, scoring both attempts on target, compared to the Patriots' 14 shots, seven of which were on goal. JBU attempted seven corner kicks, while Cumberlands sent in four from the corner flag as UC saw its 23-match winning streak snapped.
With the watershed victory, the Golden Eagles secured its place among the nation's final eight teams, and will next take on ninth-seeded No. 13 SCAD Savannah (Ga.) on Thursday morning (Dec. 5) in the quarterfinal round. The Bees (17-1-2) upset eighth-seeded No. 11 Spring Arbor (Mich.) by a 1-0 score in the Round of 16. It will be the first time the two programs meet.
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