Official G-MAC Championship Page
INDIANAPOLIS – No. 4 Davis & Elkins and No. 6 Malone both advanced out of the quarterfinal round of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championship bracket on Saturday.
Up Next, the Pioneers (9-8-2) will face No. 2 seed Ursuline while regular-season champion and top seed Trevecca Nazarene draws the Senators (8-9-0) on Thursday in the semifinals in Nashville.
Malone and Ursuline will play at 5 p.m. CST (6 p.m. EST) while Trevecca Nazarene and Davis & Elkins will play the nightcap with a 7:30 p.m. CST (8:30 p.m. EST) projected start time.
Video of both games with live stats will be made available for viewing.
Moments That Mattered
It took a lone goal from sophomore midfielder Alyssa Jacobs for Davis & Elkins to seal an opening-round win on their home pitch against Kentucky Wesleyan. The Panthers end their season with a 7-9-2 record as the No. 5 seed.
Jacobs snapped a scoreless stalemate in the 85th minute, foiling what could have been an overtime battle. D&E had the early game and was the first team to officially move on in this year’s bracket.
The Senators are just one year removed from winning the 2015 G-MAC regular-season title and securing the top seed, but suffered a semifinal setback against Cedarville. D&E would like to return the same favor next week against TNU.
Malone scored midway through the first half to open the scoring, but had to work to overcome a game-tying strike from Cedarville sophomore Alyssa Maileffer. Maillefer had burst on to the scene as a freshman with the game winner in OT in the G-MAC Championship semifinals vs D&E. Malone's No. 6 over a No. 3 happend for just the second time in the women's tournament history.
The Yellow Jackets end their season with a 7-10-1 overall record.
Hilty, Kovanda Strike for Surging Pioneers
The Pioneers were on the bubble as the regular season came down to a close, but made a statement by beating Ursuline to clinch the final postseason seed.
In its first year with the G-MAC, Malone didn’t disappoint as a dangerous tournament draw and were able to beat the Yellow Jackets after getting swept by Cedarville in the season series.
Freshman forward Kirsten Hilty remains red hot after scoring two goals against Ursuline and scoring the opening goal against Cedarville to begin the postseason. Hilty has three goals this week and five on the year.
Junior defender Kaela Kovanda ended the overtime suspense with the game winner deep into OT, great timing for her first goal of the season.
Despite the No. 2/No. 6 seeded matchup with Ursuline, the tournament-tested Arrows will have their hands full with Malone in their third meeting of the year.