By Taylor McGillis, Staff Writer
The most successful season in Saint Leo women’s soccer history ended Sunday Nov. 13 in the second round of the NCAA Division II women’s soccer tournament, when the top seeded Lions dropped a 2-1 decision to the fifth seeded Lynn University Fighting Knights. Saint Leo (15-3-1) came into the game fresh off a loss to Tampa in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament, after winning their first SSC regular season title in program history. Lynn (11-6-1) advanced to play the Lions in the second round of the NCAA after beating Florida Tech 1-0 in the first round.
The game, hosted at Saint Leo, quickly turned in the favor of Lynn when the Fighting Knights jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Melissa Ortiz connected on her first of two goals in the tenth minute. The Lions, who were playing without their second leading goal scorer Pia Soesemann, struggled to find the back of the net despite totally 14 shots for the came, five of which were on goal, and 11 corner kick opportunities.
In the 84th minute Lynn’s Ortiz increased the Lions deficit to two after she found the net for the second time of the afternoon on a put back after a blast from Lynn’s Kirstie Schultz ricocheted off the post. Despite being down two goals with six minutes to play, the Lions didn’t throw in the towel just yet. In the 88th minute, Lions defender Francesca Williams drilled her first goal of the year and kept the Lions’ hopes alive, as well as electrifying the hundreds of Saint Leo students who attended the game.
The Lions comeback attempt ran out of time though, which ended their season and left players heartbroken and in dismay on the field. A team that had been destined to make a deep run into the NCAA and who was ranked 6th in the nation coming into the tournament had suddenly lost two straight games after losing only one game in the entire regular season.
As sour as the end of the season was for the Lions, the 2011 will go down as one of the most successful season of any team in Saint Leo athletics history. “We started as a team and ended as a team. We came up a little short of our goal but we are still 27 strong and I love every single one my teammates”, said junior defender Andrea Lott. “The seniors are irreplaceable and we wouldn’t have had this historical season without them. Hopefully we can bounce back and have another great season next year.”
