SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's team's 2024 Sunshine State Conference tournament run came to an end on Monday as the fifth-seeded Eagles suffered a 1-0 loss to fourth-seeded Saint Leo (9-4-5) at the Lions' home field. Monday's loss marks the first time in six seasons that Eagles have not advanced past the quarterfinal round and drops the Eagles' 2024 record to 8-7-3.
As was the case in the first meeting of the season between the Eagles and the Lions, it was Saint Leo who struck early as Ella Owen fed Payton Gibney for the deciding goal in the 23rd minute. Although behind on the scoresheet, the Eagles pressed the Lion defense and created a few looks, including a couple of one-v-one opportunities and three attempts that forced saves from Hannah Groetzer. ERAU had a 6-2 advantage in shots at the halftime break, but didn't have a goal to show for it and went into the intermission trailing by a goal.
The second half saw the Lions outshoot the Eagles 10-5, but ERAU goalkeeper
Oona Jokinen helped keep the scoreline tight with two key saves on back-to-back Saint Leo attempts. In search of the equalizer, Embry-Riddle once again forced Groetzer in action with shots on target by
Ida Kummel and
Grace Foyer. Late in the contest, the Eagles won three consecutive corner kicks, but they were unable to convert of any of the set pieces, giving the Lions the win.
The Eagles, currently fourth in the South Region rankings, will return to Daytona Beach and await the results of the NCAA II Tournament Selection show which takes place on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.
