NCAA Division II women’s, men’s selection shows take place Monday
By Official Florida FC
Flagler finishes three-peat
The Flagler College women’s soccer team won its third straight Peach Belt Conference Tournament title on Sunday with a 5-3 win over No. 7 Columbus State (18-2-1).
The Saints (15-2-1) beat the two teams who defeated them in the regular season, Lander University and Columbus State, in the semifinal and final to bring the hardware back to St. Augustine.
Flagler midfielder Chloe Byrne opened the scoring in the sixth minute. However, the Peach Belt Conference regular season champions answered with goals in the 12th and 23rd minute. Flagler exploited set pieces throughout the second half to score four goals. Sara Carr equalized off a corner in the 52nd minute. Moa Arlebo, Annie Habeeb and Josefine Nilsen also scored for the Saints.
West Florida wins Gulf South
The University of West Florida was likely already in the field of 40, but the Argonauts ensured their place in the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Tournament with a 2-1 win over Lee on Sunday afternoon in Pensacola.
West Florida (12-3-3) scored two goals in two minutes to overcome a halftime deficit. Senior midfielder Ed Chappe scored in the 49th minute. Bernardo Torres scored his fifth goal of the season 79 seconds later to give the hosting Argonauts the lead.
The victory was West Florida’s first conference tournament title since 2013.
Sunshine State stunner
Nova Southeastern (13-3-2) won its first Sunshine State Conference men’s soccer title on Sunday afternoon in Tampa with a 4-1 win over tournament hosts the University of Tampa.
Nova’s finishing was lethal. The Sharks only managed five shots on goal, but made the most of their opportunities.
Junior defender Farid Sar-Sar opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Matty Cornish scored his team-leading 10th goal in the 19th minute and Henrik Berg’s 44th minute goal gave the visitors a commanding halftime lead. Michael Lawrence’s 48th minute goal put an exclamation point on the proceedings.
Nova entered the Sunshine State Conference Tournament No. 14 in the NCAA Super Region 2 rankings. Considering only the top 10 teams in each of the four regions qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament, the Sharks had to win Sunday — and they did.
Tampa (13-4) entered the conference tournament ranked No. 4 in the region and will likely qualify for the NCAA Tournament when pairings are announced on Monday.
Embry-Riddle women soar into NCAA Tournament
Embry-Riddle did the double on Sunday with its 1-0 win over Florida Tech in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament final in Daytona Beach.
Marie Myhrvold Seim’s goal in the fifth minute was the difference in the match.
The Eagles (10-3-3) became the first team in conference to win the regular season and tournament titles since Barry in 2018. Embry-Riddle will hope their postseason run lasts longer than the one-and-done Barry endured three years ago.
