FOLEY, Ala. – The 12^th seed University of Tennessee Southern women's soccer continued their quest for a Red Banner with a 1-nil victory over the fourth seed Central Methodist on Thursday. In what would be an epic matchup of two well balanced teams, UT Southern (16-4-3) and Central Methodist (19-3-1) would each record five shots each and put three each on target.

To open the second half, the Firehawks would have five great looks to get on the board first but the Eagle defense would deny each chance. In the 60^th minute, Nao Katamoto would punch one past the keeper to lift the Firehawks ahead 1-nil. The Eagles would have multiple chances late in the match on corners, but CMU could not get past the stifling Firehawk defense. UT Southern would lead the shot count 12-10 and would hold a 6-4 shots on goal advantage.

Layken Stockstill (13-3-3) recorded five saves and recorded a clean sheet in the win.

NEXT UP

The Firehawks will continue NAIA National Championship final site play on Saturday. UT Southern will face William Carey in the semifinal round at 1 p.m. The Crusaders defeated Aquinas 2-1 in today's first match. The Crusaders and Firehawks met on September 21^st in Hattiesburg, WCU defeated UTS 3-2 in the regular season SSAC match.

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