Box Score By MacKenzie Tuttle for berryvikings.com
DANVILLE, Ky. -- Top-seeded Berry College was upset by Centre College, 2-1, in a Southern Athletic Association semifinal match on Saturday.
The fourth-seeded Colonels (14-5-1) advance to Sunday's championship game. After the defeat--which halted an 11-match winning streak--Berry fell to 16-3.
The Colonels had the early momentum. Tori Dillard put Centre ahead with a goal following a corner kick in the 17th minute. CC had the first five shots in the game. Rachel LeRoy fired Berry's first shot in the 32nd minute.
Centre maintained a 1-0 lead at halftime and led in shots, 7-1.
The Colonels pushed the lead to 2-0 in the 49th minute when Alex Combs scored on a pass from Anne Mitchell.
Yet the Vikings countered in the 77th minute. Celia Dann made a run on left side and earned a corner kick for BC. Michala Bibbins took the corner, and Lauren Sykora knocked in a loose ball for the tally.
The Vikings had a number of chances to tie, but could not get the equalizer. Dann had a point-blank shot in the 84th minute, but Olivia Alford made one of her four saves on the play.
Jackie McGivney and Melissa Sanchez split the game at goalkeeper for BC. McGivney had three saves in the loss, and Sanchez also collected three. They each allowed one goal.
Centre had the edge in shots, 14-7. Both clubs took two corner kicks in the match.
"Congratulations to Centre: They were the aggressors today and built a 2-0 lead, which we could not overcome," said Vikings' Head Coach Lorenzo Canalis.
Just like last season, Berry will have to wait until the NCAA selection show to see if they earned a spot in the NCAA Championships. (The show can be viewed at NCAA.com on Monday at 1 p.m.)
BC has a stronger resume this year. In addition to having one fewer loss (three), the Vikings had an unblemished SAA regular season (7-0) and earned more accolades in the regional rankings this season.
Unlike last year, however, Berry did not advance to the conference tournament championship game. Additionally, the Vikings now seek a pool C at large bid, rather than a pool B (for independents and conferences without an automatic qualifier) this time.
"We have built a strong resume, but we will wait until Monday to see if it was good enough," Canalis added. "Either way, I am very proud of the year we have had."
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