DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's soccer team advanced to the final site of the 2011 NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship with a 1-0 victory over Judson (Ill.) in their NAIA National Championship  Opening Round match, Saturday at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium. Saturday's win was the Eagles' first in NAIA National Tournament play since 2004 when they defeated Spring Arbor 3-2. In addition to improving their overall record to 17-2-1, ERAU set a new record for team goals scored in a single season with 70 on the year.

At the start of the contest, both teams tried to find their rhythm, but it was Judson who registered the first shot of the game as Angela Bianchi's shot missed to the right of the goal. Much of the action took place in the Embry-Riddle half of the field, but in the 10th minute Krizzy Menez took a shot that went over the bar and that attempt swung the momentum in favor of the Eagles from Daytona Beach.

After controlling the possession in Judson's defensive third, the Embry-Riddle Eagles finally got the breakthrough they were looking for in the 15th minute. Valerie Obita collected the ball in front of the Judson bench on the left side of the field and lifted the ball high into the air toward the 18-yard box. Menez ran onto the ball after it bounced into the box and after taking it deep into the corner, she completed a pass to Tova Torstensson just outside the penalty area. Torstensson took one touch before launching a shot across the face of the goal into the left side netting, giving ERAU a 1-0 lead.

Embry-Riddle outshot Judson 7-1 in the last 30 minutes of the first frame, but was unable to find the back of the net again and took the one-goal lead into the halftime break.

Coming out of the intermission, it was Judson that had the better chances to score, including Jenna Steffensen's shot that was saved by Kara Haack off the line in the 47th minute and a shot by Angela Bianchi in the 53rd minute that was turned back by ERAU goalkeeper Lauren Gallant. The Eagles withstood the pressure and began to create scoring chances of their own.

In the 55th minute, Martine Olsen rifled a shot from about 25 yards out that had Judson keeper Sara Hoffman beat, but the ball banged off the post to deny ERAU a chance at increasing their lead. Near misses turned out to be a theme for the Eagles for the remainder of the second half as, in addition to hitting the post, they had shots go cleared off the line by the Judson defense or bounce off the cross bar or miss the goal by inches, resulting in the 1-0 final score.

For the game, ERAU held a 20-8 shot advantage over Judson who ended its 2011 campaign at 16-3-2.

The games at the NAIA National Championship Final Site will take place Nov. 28-Dec. 3 at the Jack Allen Recreation Complex in DeCatur, Ala. ERAU will take on Olivet Nazarene who topped Hannibal LaGrange 3-1 in their Opening Round match. The Eagles and the Tigers will square off at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29.