SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Juniors Katherine Keys and Holly Lanter each scored twice and added an assist as top-seeded No. 17 John Brown University women's soccer overwhelmed Oklahoma City, 7-0, in the Sooner Athletic tournament semifinals Friday evening (Nov. 6) at Alumni Field.
The victory sends John Brown (14-1-3) into the SAC tournament championship match for the seventh consecutive season, where the Golden Eagles will seek their ninth tournament crown in program history and seventh straight. Science & Arts (Okla.) again awaits in the final, continuing a championship rivalry that has brought the two programs together in the title match in each of the last seven seasons, once again with the league's lone automatic berth into the NAIA National Championships also at stake.
John Brown controlled the match from the outset, outshooting the Stars 24-4 and putting 13 attempts on frame while Oklahoma City failed to register a shot on goal. The Golden Eagles scored three times before the half, added a fourth shortly after the hour mark and closed the night with three goals over the final five-plus minutes.
Keys opened the scoring in the 13th minute after collecting an errant ball in the left channel. She beat an OCU defender one-on-one before curling a 14-yard strike beyond goalkeeper Candela Blanco and inside the far-right post for her 12th goal of the season.
The junior doubled the advantage four minutes later by turning another Oklahoma City mistake into a goal. An OCU defender played the ball back toward Blanco, but Keys raced onto it and met the goalkeeper as she attempted to clear, with the ball ricocheting off Keys and bouncing into the empty net for her second of the night and team-leading 13th of the campaign.
Lanter made it 3-0 in the 40th minute with a move through the center of the Stars' defense. Junior Caitlin Hilson played forward to Keys, who slipped a through ball behind the back line for Lanter sprinting into space. Lanter danced around Blanco and deposited the ball into the vacant goal for her sixth of the year.
The Golden Eagles added another in the 61st minute after junior Tianna Jones turned a throw-in on the left side into a one-on-one showcase. Jones made the same defender miss three times before lofting a cross toward the back post, where freshman Sophia Alvarado was left unmarked and headed home her second goal of the season.
John Brown's depth took over late, with three different scoring combinations producing goals in a span of 4:24. Lanter began the sequence in the 85th minute by beating an OCU defender to a backward pass, collecting the loose ball and sliding it across the front of goal for sophomore Kayah Robbins to poke past substitute goalkeeper Gemma Harvey for her fifth of the year.
Senior Clare Barger created the sixth two minutes later, beating a defender down the left flank before playing into the middle for freshman Vanessa Frias. Frias met the pass first time and redirected it beyond Harvey for her fourth goal of the season.
Lanter completed the scoring in the 89th minute. Robbins one-touched an OCU headed ball through the Stars' back line, leaving Lanter alone on goal before she drove her finish into the bottom-left corner for her second of the night and seventh of the season.
Keys finished with five points on two goals and an assist while taking a match-high six shots, and Lanter matched her with two goals and a helper while placing all three of her attempts on frame. Jones, Hilson, Barger and Robbins each supplied an assist, while Alvarado, Robbins and Frias accounted for the remaining three goals.
John Brown held a 10-3 advantage in shots during the opening half before widening that margin to 14-1 after halftime. The Golden Eagles put 13 shots on goal and earned seven corner kicks, while the Stars never tested the JBU goal with an attempt on frame.
Freshman goalkeeper Ansley Fuchs (14-1-3) did not need to make a save while securing her 11th clean sheet of the season. The shutout was JBU's second in as many tournament matches after blanking Texas Wesleyan, 4-0, in Tuesday's quarterfinal round.Top-seeded John Brown will welcome second-seeded Science & Arts on Monday (Nov. 9) at Alumni Field in the championship match, slated to kick off at 7 p.m. The SAC Sports Network will carry the title match live as the Golden Eagles pursue a seventh consecutive tournament crown.
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