D3 Women’s Soccer: 3 Reasons Why Centre Will Win the Title

Centre [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ntV9lWo8D3M[/embed]

With a trip to the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Final Four on the line, the Centre women's soccer team made history posting a dominant 4-0 victory over BR-21 Calvin . With the win, the Colonels secured the first final four trip in program history and the first by any Centre team since 1989-90, when the women's basketball team earned a spot in the national semifinals. With opening round wins over BR-164 Penn State-Behrend (3-1), BR-121 Capital (4-0), and the defensive powerhouse BR-17 Thomas More (1-0), the Colonels have some momentum heading into the semi-final weekend. Centre (21-1-1), now with a program record 21 wins, made an Elite Eight appearance for the second-straight season under head coach Jay Hoffman.

1. Motivation [caption id="attachment_102024" align="aligncenter" width="620"] (Centre Athletics Photo)[/caption]

With last season's Elite Eight run, the Colonels were convinced they could make another run this season. After a trip to Ireland in the summer, coach Jay Hoffman was sure they had a chance for another special season. "They have been focused, motivated, and inspiring from day 1", said Hoffman.

This is Centre's first trip to the Final Four in the program's history, and the motivation to make it count will certainly be a factor when the whistle blows this weekend.

2. Destine Graves [caption id="attachment_102042" align="aligncenter" width="322"] SAA Offensive Player of the Year Destine Graves (Centre Athletics Photo)[/caption]

The Southern Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, junior forward Destine Graves has been pacing the offense for the Colonels all season, topping it off with a hat-trick in the Round of Eight match with Calvin.

Graves paced the SAA and ranked 13 th in NCAA Division III with 21 goals this season, five more goals than any other player in the conference when the season finished, while ranking 13 th in the country with 1.24 goals per game. This includes a conference-high five game-winning scores on the year. She also led the league with 47 points as she dished out five assists on the season, which was tied for the team lead and ranked fourth in the conference.

3. Depth [caption id="attachment_102059" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Centre has strength on both ends of the field in with Destine Graves and Tori Dillard (Centre Athletics Photo)[/caption]

N ine Centre women's soccer players garnered All-Southern Athletic Association recognition. Junior forward Destinie Graves was named the SAA Offensive Player of the Year, while junior defender Tori Dillard earned SAA Defensive Player of the Year honors. Dillard repeats as SAA Defensive Player of the Year, helping to anchor a Centre defense that allowed a total of just 11 goals on the season, including just four goals in seven conference contests.

She finished the regular season tied with Graves for the team lead with five assists on the season, good for fourth in the SAA. Dillard led a Colonel defense that has posted 10 regular season shutout victories on the season. Centre entered the NCAA Tournament riding a streak of five shutout wins in a row following a 1-0 win over BR-81 Rhodes in the SAA Championship.

The Colonels feature three first team honorees in Graves, Dillard and sophomore midfielder Nancy Ingham.

Junior goalkeeper Olivia Alford and senior forward Alex Combs were named second team All-SAA, while junior defender Shannon Murray, senior defender Shelby Ratcliff, senior forward Elizabeth Mason and junior defender Katie Downing each garnered honorable mention All-SAA recognition.

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