No. 1 Bears Moving on to Mid-South District Championship
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas – On a night Bears coach Jimmy Elder hit a milestone, his top-ranked women's soccer team moved a little closer to its ultimate destination.
Dallas College Brookhaven shut out Dallas College Cedar Valley, 4-0, Thursday in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Mid-South District semifinals. The win was Elder's 100th career victory at Brookhaven.
"Total surprise," Elder said of the milestone victory. "I had no idea until my assistant coach (Robert Williams) got the kids together, and had something for me. I'm thinking, 'It's not my birthday, not my anniversary … what's going on?' I didn't even have any idea. The 100th victory for me is just a feather in my cap. I'm just really happy to get there."
⚽️ @DCBWomensSoccer & coach @RealJimmyElder ready for today's 12 p.m. @NJCAA_Soccer Mid-South District Championship �� after collecting his ��th victory with the @NJCAA DIII No. 1 Bears #NJCAA | #PostseasonSoccer | #DallasCollegeProud | #BrookhavenBears pic.twitter.com/igEG3rW6kq
— Dallas College Athletics (@AthleticsDallas) October 29, 2022
Where the NJCAA DIII's No. 1-ranked team has gotten is a place the Bears (12-0-1) are all too familiar with – an appearance in the district championship. They'll meet fourth-ranked Dallas College Richland (9-5-1) at noon Saturday with a berth to the national tournament on the line.
The Bears scored all four goals in the second half after a gritty Cedar Valley squad kept them at bay for 45 minutes. Meleni Lorenzo struck two minutes into the second half on a setup from Aliyana Obregon in what turned out to be the gamewinning goal. Whitni Newbill put Brookhaven ahead, 2-0, in the 57th minute on an assist from Lorenzo.
Lorenzo connected with Natalie Lopez with nine minutes to play to extend the lead to three goals, and Mayra Gutierrez put the finishing touches on the shutout win when she scored in the 89th minute on an assist from Isis Balderas.
"I think it's just important that we start each game with intensity the way we started the second half of this game," Brookhaven sophomore goalkeeper Cameron Watson said after making a second half save to preserve the Bears' 11th shutout of the season.
The Bears outshot the Suns, 18-4, putting nine shots on goal. Cedar Valley goalkeeper Lawson McConnell stopped five shots. Brookhaven starting keeper Hayli Nichols made one save in the first half. She and Watson have shared nine shutouts this season.
The Bears blanked Richland in the second meeting during Dallas Athletic Conference play this season, and haven't given up a goal since the Thunderducks tied Brookhaven the first time the two teams met on Sept. 16.
The Bears, which won the national championship last year, have been the hunted all season.
"It's a lot to live up to," forward Alexa Bezpalko said. "Every game we're getting better, just learning each other."
⚽️ @DCBWomensSoccer's trio ready for today's 12 p.m. @NJCAA_Soccer DIII Mid-South District Championship.#NJCAA | #PostseasonSoccer | #DallasCollegeProud | #BrookhavenBears pic.twitter.com/EtBhkinydU
— Dallas College Athletics (@AthleticsDallas) October 29, 2022
Newbill scored her team-leading 12th goal of the season. She is tied for 14th in the country in that department.
"They call me a dog," Newbill said. "In a couple meetings, we literally stated we want that dog mentality for the whole team."
On this night, they had it in the second half, and now they'll have a crack at Richland for the fifth time in the district championship game since Elder took over. It will be the first meeting between the two teams in the past three years.
"If we can get over this hump, we get a chance to win the first ever back-to-back national titles, so that's really special for Robert and myself," Elder said. "For the girls, we paint a really pretty picture of the national championship, how special they are, how difficult they are to achieve and accomplish. We're very psyched up, we're very motivated. We're right where we want to be."
