Reporting provided by Danny Kotula and Riley Hoag
The Lipscomb women’s soccer team hosts the first round of the 2021 ASUN conference tournament on Saturday afternoon.
After missing a whole season of soccer due to COVID-19, the Bisons were able to get an overall record of 7-2-2.
The team enters the tournament as the top seed in the makeshift North Division of the ASUN and will face fourth-seeded Liberty at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex at 1 pm. After two straight titles, Lipscomb will be looking to earn a third straight berth in the NCAA College Cup later this month.
Some of the top-performing players this season have included Kelli Beiler, redshirt Junior Cami Rogers, and sophomore Molly Grant. Beiler has scored 9 goals, 3 of which have been penalty kicks. Rogers has scored 5 goals with 2 assists, and Grant has scored 4 goals with 3 assists. Overall the team has scored 26 goals and had 20 assists.
The past month has been especially kind to the Bisons, who sport five wins and two draws in that time with no losses. During that time, Lipscomb faced Liberty twice, drawing the first and winning the second by a commanding score of 5-1.
Attacking prowess abounds for the Bisons, who average 2.4 goals per match on 15 shots. Redshirt junior midfielder Kelli Beiler has poured in nine of those goals in her 11 matches this season, a number that leads the team. Four of those goals were game-winners for the Bisons, so expect Beiler to be key in clutch moments. Striker Molly Grant can also be expected to create goals after putting up the aforementioned four goals and three assists in her sophomore season.
In defense, Lipscomb will rely on the experience of sophomore defender and Penn State transfer Shelby Craft, who has played over 1,000 minutes this season and leads the team in minutes played. From her center back position, she has provided a goal of her own along with two assists.
The Flames had to progress past North Alabama in the play-in game of the tournament to earn the right to face Lipscomb, and the winner advances to the conference semifinals. The ASUN semifinals and finals will be played in Kennesaw, Georgia and will determine the conference’s NCAA national representative.
If Lipscomb is to advance to the national tournament, they will enter a bubble environment in North Carolina and open their national tournament run on either April 27 or 28.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics