CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Embry-Riddle women's soccer team advanced to its first NCAA II South Regional final on Sunday with a 2-1 in over Lee at the Lady Flames soccer field. The Eagles toppled No. 3 seed Rollins and No. 2 seed Lee in the first two rounds of the tournament to improve their overall record to 12-5-2 and secure a spot in the tournament's round of 16.
 
The day's play saw Lee with a few early chances as the Lady Flames had the first three shots and two corner kick attempts of the contest. Thanks in part to the Eagle defense Lee was unable to convert on any of those opportunities and the momentum slowly shifted to the other side of the field where the Eagles kept Lee pinned in their defensive half for the next 15 minutes. 
 
The Eagles peppered the Lee defense with four shots and four corner kicks during that stretch, but it wasn't until late in the first half that they got on the scoreboard. In the 41^stminute, Marie Myhrvold Seim won the ball about 10 yards inside the Lee half of the field. The freshman spun and delivered a pass to Rita Okoro who cut the ball back before rifling a low shot past Lee goalkeeper Taylor Green to put the Eagles up 1-0. 
 
Julia Olsson had another shot that seemed destined for the back of the net, but Green came up with a big save to keep the Eagles lead at 1-0 at the half.
 
The second half began much like the first with Lee having more of the offense in the early stages of the period. However, as was the case in the first frame, it was the Eagles who struck first. In the 63^rdminute, Ragnheidur Gardarsdottir tapped a pass to Okoro who flicked a no-look pass to Olsson running into the box from the left side. Olsson took a couple of touches and hit a low ball across the goal into the far side netting to put the Blue and Gold up 2-0.
 
As the half progressed, Lee began to show why they were considered one of the better teams in the region. ERAU goalkeeper Dana Ruchti came up with some key saves to hold the Lady Flames at bay, but the 82^ndminute Kelsey Yoder made it a one-goal game with a score off a corner kick.
 
The final eight minutes provided some tense moments for the Eagles, but they held their ground and saw the game out to advance.
 
Ruchti finished with seven saves for the Blue and Gold, while Green collected four saves for the Lady Flames who ended their season at 16-6.
 
"First, I want to congratulate Lee on a great game.," ERAU Head Coach Samantha Bohon said. "Today, you saw two quality programs and teams battling for a result. We knew we were going up against a physically tall and strong opponent, so we had to be tough on the ball all over the pitch. The game definitely had momentum swings as you would expect, so we asked our players to try and get a goal when we had the upper hand. Rita had a great finish to get us on the board and I thought we should have added one or two more before the half. Their keeper made two strong 1-v-1 saves to keep it at one at the half. In the second, our keeper had to make some big saves and did a fantastic job coming off her line on set pieces. They are really dangerous with their height and she punched several dangerous serves away. I thought Julia was dangerous all game and finally put one in the back of the net to give us some breathing room off a great assist by Rita. It proved to be huge as they got one back late. There's not much we could do on their goal as the corner kick was outstanding. Overall, it was another gritty win by our team. We showed again that our fitness and will to win is really high right now.  We are motivated, confident and finally pretty healthy, so we can't wait for the next round."
 
The Eagles will make the short trip to St. Augustine to take on Nova Southeastern in the regional final. Date and time are to be determined.
 
Click here to view post game press conference with Coach Bohon and Julia Olsson