St. Ambrose, St. Francis to Meet For Women's Soccer Tournament Title
CHICAGO --- No. 5 seed University of St, Francis and No. 3 St. Ambrose University upended higher seeds on Friday night to advance to the championship match of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament.
St. Francis (13-3-3) scored its second upset of the tournament by knocking off No. 1 Holy Cross College 2-1, while St. Ambrose (12-5-3) came from behind to defeat No. 2 Saint Xavier by the same count, but in double overtime.
That sets up Tuesday night's title matchup at 6 pm at SAU's St. Vincent's Athletic Complex. During the regular season, the Fighting Bees edged out St. Francis 2-1 back on Sept. 27 in Joliet.
The winner joins Holy Cross in gaining the league's second automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.
Recapping Friday:
St. Francis 2, Holy Cross 1
The Saints delivered the upset by jumping out to a 2-0 first-half lead on goals from Kelly Flores (26:19) and Litzy Flores (36:50). Kelly Flores also provided the assist on the latter goal off a corner kick. Frances Parks made things interesting with her goal with just six minutes remaining.
St. Ambrose 2, Saint Xavier 1 --- 2OT
Jenna Horst delivered both goals for St. Ambrose, including the game-winner at 103:45. She also forced the extra sessions with her tally at 62:14. Saint Xavier opened up a 1-0 lead on Veronica Davila's goal 20 minutes into the affair.
The complete tournament results and remaining schedule follow:
Tuesday, November 4 - First Round
• Match #1: No. 1 Holy Cross 3, No. 8 Indiana Northwest 2
• Match #2: No. 5 St. Francis 1, No.4 Olivet Nazarene 0
• Match #3: No. 2 Saint Xavier 1, No. 7 Trinity Christian 0
• Match #4: No. 3 St. Ambrose 2, No. 6 Viterbo 1
Friday, November 7 - Semifinal Round
• Match #5: No. 5 St. Francis 2, No. 1 Holy Cross 1
• Match #6: No. 3 St. Ambrose 2, No. 2 Saint Xavier 1 --- 2OT
Tuesday, November 11 – Championship
• Match #7: No. 5 St. Francis (13-3-3) at No. 3 St. Ambrose (12-5-3) --- 6 pm CT