Box Score
CLARKS SUMMIT, PA - Entering Saturday's tilt, the women's soccer team had been forced to face East Region giant Baptist Bible College in the Regional Championship during each of the past six seasons.
Six straight times PBU has been denied.
Looking to change the tide during their seventh consecutive championship meeting on Saturday, the Crimson Eagles gave the highly touted Defenders everything they could handle, keeping the score deadlocked at 1-1 deep into the back end of play despite playing with a man down from the 40 minute mark on.
But history had a way of repeating itself Saturday as the energized effort from PBU wasn't enough to combat two late second half scores from the host squad en route to a 3-1 Baptist Bible triumph.
The Defenders - currently ranked second nationally in the latest NCCAA Coaches' Poll - took full advantage of a costly Crimson Eagle penalty forty minutes into the opening stanza. PBU was hit with a red card, meaning the visitors would be forced to compete with 10 players on the field versus Baptist's 11 the rest of the way.
Following a Baptist score from Carly Harper off a corner kick, senior forward Summer Mullen helped erase PBU's early deficit despite the group's distinct disadvantage. Mullen tallied an unassisted score 1:15 into the second stanza to help pull the Crimson Eagles even with their counterpart, marking her third goal of the year.
The visitors would clamp down defensively for the ensuing 15 minutes, fending off a high-powered Baptist offense that currently stands fifth in the NCCAA in scoring.
But PBU's valiant effort wouldn't be enough to prevent the go-ahead and eventual game winning goal. The Defenders' would capitalize on a cross in front of the net during the 61st minute as rookie forward Laurie Plante would pour in her 11th score of the season.
Twelve minutes later, BBC would put home an insurance score to deflate any home of a PBU surge in the final moments of play.
Baptist Bible would out-shoot the Crimson Eagles 16-7 for the day en route to their tenth straight triumph over their longtime rival. Crimson Eagle keeper Kristen Lyszczasz would chart four saves in the loss.
The defeat ends PBU's season and the group closes out the year with a 5-13-1 record.
