ORANGE BEACH, Ala. - Nothing has come easy for Lee in its first two outings of the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship at the Orange Beach Sportsplex but coach Matt Yelton's club has found ways to win over Northwood (Fla.) and Concordia (Ore.)
Ode Fulutudilu scored the winning goal in the 78th minute to give the Lady Flames a rugged 2-1 victory over a battling University of Concordia. Lee will get a well deserved rest on Thursday and return to action on Friday at 2 p.m. facing an Olivet Nazarene team that advanced with a 1-0 decision over Texas-Brownsville. On Sept.15, Lee defeated Olivet by a 1-0 score.
"In my opinion, we played a game that very much resembled a (tournament) final-type match," said Yelton. "Concordia is an exceptionally well coached team and they threw everything at us. We feel very fortunate to be moving on to the semi-final."
The win marked Lee's 23rd straight in NAIA National Championship competition. The Lady Flames now own an extremely impressive 28-3-2 all-time record in the championship competition. Also, it marked the fourth time over the last five seasons that Lee has eliminated Concordia from the championship.
The first score of the game came on a penalty kick by senior Amy Cochran. Fulutudilu set up the score when she came charging straight down the middle and was knocked down in the box by a Concordia defender. The score at the 34:34 mark in the first half gave the Lady Flames a 1-0 halftime advantage.
The Oregon club came out seeking revenge in the second half and tied the contest on a goal by Jenna Peterson in the 55th minute. Peterson banged her shot home over the outstretched arms of Lee keeper Leah Wilson.
The remainder of the second half was loaded with action and appeared headed for a possible overtime when Fulutudilu knocked in a goal off a well played cross by senior Caroline Scales in the 78th minute. "Amy (Cochran) and Caroline (Scales) deserve a lot of credit. They pushed the attack forward all night."
The Lee defense stepped to the front in the final 12 minutes and helped send the Lady Flames into the semi-final round for the fifth straight year.
"I thought we had to put in a really gritty performance tonight and were never able to get into a rythmn," admitted Yelton. "Concordia deserves a lot of credit for bringing a game plan that kept us from ever getting comfortable. It is good to be back in the Final Four but I really don't think we have played our best soccer yet, so hopefully we can find that gear and go find another win."
Lee managed to get off 10 shots against the well organized Concordia defense. Yelton's group also placed five of the shots on goal. The Lady Flames' defense limited Concordia to only eight shots and three were on target. Tori Talbutt had three saves for the losing club and Wilson garnered two for Lee. Neither team could capitalize on corner kicks. The Oregon club was awarded 11 and the Lady Flames 12.
In other semi-final play on Friday, No. 2 Lindsey Wilson will face Spring Arbor (Mich.). Spring Arbor pulled off an upset by advancing on penalty kicks past No. 3 Vanguard (Calif.), while Lindsey Wilson eliminated Embry Riddle (Fla.).
