Eagles Fall At The Buzzer In CCAC First Round

Joliet, IL - Judson had it, until they did not. In the first round of the CCAC playoffs, Judson as the #6 seed traveled to Joliet to take on the #3 seed St. Francis Saints. 

In the first half, the pace was fast as both teams were flying around in open space. In the 33rd minute, JU struck first with a goal from Kelly Leon. It was unassisted for her 8th goal of the season. 

The Eagles outshot the Saints 12-6 in the first half. 

In the second half, actions was a bit more chippier. It also saw the Saints take control. They were the team controlling shots 15-8 for the half. But, thanks to a couple of nice saves from Eva Fernandez, the Eagles maintained the lead. 

But in the 67th minute, USF tied things up at 1 with goal reaching the top right corner. 

The Eagles had chances, but missed two empty net situations. Daisy Garcia, Maria Artaloitia, and Yeyahs Macias all had look on goal. A shot from outside of the box by Garcia hit the crossbar and rolled away. 

As is the case with these two teams, it was heading for a draw, and penalty kicks, until it wasn't. With about 30 seconds left, USF had the ball in the corner. A player was down, the ref seemingly paused the action, then in the blink of an eye, the Saints did a quick reset, got a bending shot up, and fell in the net just over the reach of Fernandez with 16 seconds left on the clock. It was essentially a walk off winner for St. Francis. 

Leon had 10 shots in the game, and Fernandez finished with 5 saves. 

JU is now 5-5-8 on the season. They will await a possible invite to the NCCAA tournament to continue on in the 2024 season.