Kansas City, Mo. - For the eighth consecutive season, the Central Methodist Women's soccer team will head to the NAIA National Tournament.
Central will travel to Siloam Springs, Arkansas to face a familiar foe in John Brown University in the Second Round of the big dance.
CMU earned an at-large berth after finishing with a 16-3-1 record, a third place finish in the Heart Regular Standings, and a runner-up finish in the Heart of America Conference Tournament.
Central has continued to remain in the Top 15 of the national rankings for the entirity of the 2024 season.
The Eagles are led by the scoring duo of senior Kirstine Lykke and sophomore Mariana Barreto. The pair have each scored a team leading 16 goals in 2024, earning all-conference honors from the Heart of America. In the regular season, Lykke and Barreto went 1-2 in leading the Heart of America in scoring.
Sophomore Paula Castro has also proved to be a valuable asset to the Eagles, earning first team honors and leading the Heart during the regular season with seven assists. She enters national tournament play with nine assists.
Through their first 20 games of the season, the program is averaging 3.20 goals/match and 15.6 shots/game.
JBU secured an automatic bid to the big dance after winning the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship over Science & Arts of Oklahoma. It marks John Brown's 11th appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.
Julia Lambert leads the Golden Eagles, producing a balanced offensive attack with 14 goals and 13 assists. JBU features four different double-digit goal scorers including Lambert, Aubrey Winter (13), Lauren Walter (11), and Katherine Keys (10).
The last time the two teams met, Central just edged the Golden Eagles in an offensive slugfest, 4-3, back on Sept. 9, 2023 at Davis Field.
The matchup also features national tournament history, as both teams met in the spring of 2021 during an extended 2020 season due to COVID. The First Round game ended in a 1-1 draw, with Central advancing to the national quarterfinals after winning the penalty kick shootout, 4-2.
Both teams will square off Saturday, Nov. 23 at 1:00 p.m. in Siloam Springs. The winner will advance to the Final Site in Pensacola Florida.
Live stats and live video of the match can be found at the following link.
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