PENSACOLA, Fla. – The #4 nationally ranked University of Tennessee Southern women's soccer hit the pitch for the second time at the NAIA Final Site. UT Southern, riddled by injuries, fell 4-nil to third seed Keiser on Thursday night.
Keiser got on the board in the third minute taking the early in the third minute. The Firehawks moved the ball right down the field, but the Nao Katamoto shot just missed wide. In the 28^th minute, Hikaru Uchida's shot struck the post. KU added two more first half goals to widen the UTS deficit to 3-nil at the break.
In the second half, the Firehawks earned a pair of corner kicks that led to Marina Nawa's 62^nd minute shot that was blocked by a defender. KU would add a fourth goal to put the game out of reach in the 79^th minute. Katamoto worked free for a shot in the 87^th minute but it sailed high. KU led the match in shots 13-4 and led 7-0 in shots on goal.
UTS keeper Stephanie Hodgson suffered the full time loss allowing four goals and recording three saves.
NAIA SEMIFINAL SCORES (Seed)
(16) John Brown 0, (9) SCAD Savannah 1
UC Merced 1, (5) College of Idaho 2
(2) William Carey 1, (7) Columbia 2
(3) Keiser 4, (11) Tennessee Southern 0
NEXT UP
The #4 UT Southern closes the 2024 chapter with a 19-3-1 record. The team won the Southern States Athletic Conference Regular Season with 10-0-1 mark and finished runner up in the SSAC Championship. This year's team set a new program record for goals with 151 and only conceded 18. Head Coach Will Austin earned his 150^th career win and was named SSAC Coach of the Year. Maclani Michael won the SSAC Golden Boot with 28 two pointers during the regular season and led the team this year with 32. Michael posted a career high with seven goals in the match with Abraham Baldwin. Kamilia Tayebi earned the SSAC Defensive Player of the Year honor leading a defensive unit that boasted nine shutouts during the regular season and added three more in the postseason. Katamoto led the team with 23 assists in 20 games. Nawa and Keito Ido, 2021 national goal scoring leader, each led the team with four game winning goals.
UT Southern women's soccer will focus their attention to 2025 and already has a loaded recruiting class heading to Pulaski.
FOLLOW THE FIREHAWKS
Don't miss a minute of the latest action surrounding UTS Athletics by following the Firehawks on Twitter (@utsathletics), Instagram (@utsouthernathletics), and Facebook (@UT Southern Firehawks).