BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's soccer team will open postseason play in the 2017 American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament on Tuesday, October 31
st in Belton.
The Cru earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament and right to host a first-round match. UMHB will open against No. 7 seed Concordia University Texas at 3 p.m. at the UMHB Soccer Field. The semifinal and final rounds of the tournament will be hosted by Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. The winner of UMHB's quarterfinal game will advance to face the winner of No. 3 seed UT Dallas and No. 6 seed Sul Ross State. The championship match will be played on Sunday, November 5
th at 1 p.m. with the winner of that match receiving the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.
"We have high expectations going into the tournament this year," head coach
Barry Elkins said. "The ASC Tournament is always exciting because you don't know what the future holds. We are going to put everything we have into each game we are able to play."
Elkins returns 15 letter winners from last year's squad and has tied the record for program wins in a season at 14. Senior midfielder
Sarah Rempe is back for her last year with the Cru after a junior campaign that earned her All-ASC and all-region honors. Rempe anchors UMHB's midfield and currently has six goals and four assists on the season. Junior forwards
Caitlyn Shaughnessy and
Elissa Freberg lead UMHB's offense. The duo has combined for 19 goals, nine assists and game-winning goals in nine of UMHB's 14 wins. Defensively, UMHB is led by senior
Kristen Schultz and juniors
Sydney Rangel and
Madison Link. The trio has allowed just 50 shots on goal and contributed to 10 shutouts this season.
You can follow the tournament through live video and statistics available at cruathletics.com. Admission to UMHB's quarterfinal contest on Tuesday, October 21
st is free of charge.
