Foley, Ala. - The Marian women's soccer team saw their historic 2020-21 season come to an end on Saturday at the NAIA National Championship, as the Knights fell to No. 1 William Carey 2-0 in the national semifinal. Marian's season finishes with a record of 21-3 along with both the Crossroads League Regular Season and Tournament Championships.
Marian had the first opportunity of the game offensively, taking the first three shots of the game. Erin Oleksak rifled a shot in the second minute of the match, but Sabrina Lang made the first of what would be multiple stops on the afternoon. Oleksak and Chloe Ulmer each fired shots in the ensuing six minutes building the attack, but both shots missed the net.
Mackenzie Hall and Jacelyn Smith continued Marian's offensive pressure as they totaled Marian's shot totals to six in the first 15 minutes. Smith's second attempt of the match brought on the first free kick for Marian after it was deflected out of play, but Siera Stuart was unable to connect with Sydney Genatempo as the ball sailed over box. Just outside the 20th minute William Carey built their first offensive run of the match, getting a pair of shots from Marina Sonet and Ana Paula Santos, but the pair of strikes missed high and wide of the net.
The Crusaders owned the advantage in shot totals over the final 23 minutes of the first half, with Santos taking two of the the three attempts. Hall took each of Marian's final attempts of the half, but missed both of her free kick shots high. Alexis Patenaude made one of two first half saves denying Santos of her final shot, and kept the match scoreless going into intermission. Marian led in shot totals 8-5 in the half, but William Carey held a 2-1 advantage of of shots on goal.
In the second half the Knights swapped keepers as they had done in each of the previous four matches, and Noelle Rolfsen had her work cut out for herself early as Santos blitzed the net with two hard strikes, but Rolfsen made a save each time. In the 57th minute, William Carey put together the first successful offensive possession of the match for either side, with Kaylie Agostine blasting a shot off of Rolfsen's hand and off the crossbar. The Crusaders were rewarded with a corner kick, and had a perfect entry feed from Laia Sedo, who sent a ball over the defense for Veronica Herrera, with the defender heading in the game's first goal.
William Carey immediately looked to double their lead just three minutes after the goal, with Agostine sending a shot toward the net, but Rolfsen was able to make the save. Rolfsen then denied Santos just five minutes later, as she had cleared past the Marian defense and had a one on one opportunity, but sent her shot right at the keeper. Marian returned with a counter attack just moments later looking for an equalizer, but Drew Mason's shot in the 68th minute was blocked, while an attempt from Naomi Walters was sent packing by the defense. Ulmer had a blast from just outside the box in the 70th minute, but Lang again made a great save to preserve the clean sheet.
After Marian's attack came up short, William Carey put away an insurance goal in the 73rd minute, with Santos beating the Marian backline at the top of the 18 before slicing a shot into the bottom 90 past the arms of Rolfsen. With the 2-0 lead in hand, William Carey played stout defense, holding Marian without a shot in the final 17 minutes of play. Marian had one clean look for a goal in the 81st minute with Stuart trying to find Genatempo on a corner, but the kick was unable to connect with the defender.
The Crusaders closed down the 2-0 win holding possession for the final five minutes, ending the season for the Knights. Marian ended the match with just 11 shots, taking only three attempts in the second half to William Carey's eight. Oleksak and Mackenzie Hall led Marian with three shots each, while Oleksak and Ulmer took Marian's only shots on goal.
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