Eagles Advance To NCCAA National Semi-Finals

Kissimmee, FL - The Eagles took the field for their second pool play match at the NCCAA National Championships on Friday. Similar to the Women's Soccer team, the Eagles had a bit of an advantage knowing that they had a tie-breaker advantage in hand. 

Down one of their key players, freshmen Luca Kallinich after a red card on Monday, the Eagles came out flying in the first half. 

Against Division II Roberts Wesleyan, JU outshot RWU 13-1 in the first half. Racing to every loose ball, Judson was winning advantages early and often getting chances at the net. 

One of those chances did pay off in the 11th minute when co-captain Gabriel Uno scored on a well developed play. On the play, Uno was assisted by co-captain Gabriel Trevisan and Noel Rodriguez. It was Uno's 7th goal on the season. 

In the second half, Roberts Wesleyan was able to find an equalizer in the 69th minute. But as long as Judson could keep it at a tie score, with no further goals allowed, they would maintain that tie-breaker advantage. Much like Monday, the game would end in a 1-1 tie which was enough to push the Eagles onto the next round. 

For the year, Judson stands at 11-4-7 overall. While they have not added to their shutout total while down in Florida, the Eagles defense has still been impressive. 

Ivan Dominguez was only credited with one save, but he continues to hold up his end of things for the Eagles' success. 

JU outshot RWU 18-8 overall for the contest, and of those 18 shots, 14 of them were by the two captains Uno and Trevisan. 

You go as far as your leaders take you, and on this day, the Eagle captains were certainly carrying their teammates on their backs, willing them to victory. 

In a bit of Groundhogs Day fashion, much like the women, the Eagles will take on familiar CCAC foe Trinity Christian in the semi-final round. It will be the third match between these two teams on the season. 

On October 8th, Judson was 2-0, and then on November 20th, at Trinity in the NCCAA Regional Championship, JU came away with a 1-0 victory. A third victory over the Trolls will put the Eagles in the final game of the season on Saturday in the NCCAA National Championship Game. 

For the semi-final round, the four advancing teams were reseeded based on points. For the game, Trinity will be considered the #1 seed, and Judson will be listed as the #4 seed. Still, one more victory separates one team from the title match.