Foley, Ala.  – The University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) heads home with the 2023 NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship title after defeating the top overall seed William Carey 3-2 in a penalty kick shootout. The 40^th Annual event was held at the Foley Sports Tourism Championship Stadium in Foley, Ala., hosted by Gulf Shores | Orange Beach Sports and Events.

William Carey was no stranger the championship game as they have been here three other times, winning it back in 2018 while Cumberlands (Ky.) was the third seed in the match, this marked their first time in the championship match as well as their first red banner in program history.

The Patriots were first to get on the board in the championship match, but it wasn’t easy to do as William Carey was relentless in their attack having more chances through the first 27 minutes of play. Cumberlands was the one who struck first in the match as Laura Bosca chipped a shot to the back corner for the 1-0 lead in the 27^th minute. The first half of play for the Patriots was busy defensively, Georgia Martell especially as she tied her season high in saves with seven after only 45-minutes of play.

Martell quickly extended her season high in saves to a career high just minutes into the second half as she needed to make two more big saves in the 46^th and 47^th minute to keep Cumberlands on top 1-0. William Carey made a handful of substitutions midway through the second half as they tried to pull back even with the Patriots. In the 84^th minute, the Crusaders head coach Danny Owens made a game changing substitution, but that wasn’t evident until the 86^th minute when Karen Vilau connected with Virginia Mesa to tie the match a 1-1. William Carey’s first goal of the game came after they had 28 shots. Cumberlands (Ky.) had the opportunity of the game with seconds left on the clock as Laura Bosca ran to the back post of the goal on a cross but wasn’t able to pull it and find the net.

The first overtime period was all William Carey, as they recorded three of the four shots during the first 10 minutes of extra time and Martell for the Patriots continued to make the saves look easy down the stretch.

William Carey pushed in the final overtime period and was unable to find the game winning goal as Cumberlands (Ky.) continued to defend well against the Crusaders attack as after 110 minutes of play, we headed to a penalty kick shootout to decide the winner of the 2023 NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship.

William Carey kicked first in the shootout as Maria Azarias stepped to the stripe and was denied the goal. Carola Fontan stepped forward for the Cumberlands (Ky.) first and was able to bury her shot to put the Patriots ahead in the shootout. The Crusaders missed their next two attempts from Karen Vilau and Chloe Strickland; Jayden Boelter for Cumberlands (Ky.) also missed the second shot for the Patriots. Rita Aguye missed the third Cumberlands (Ky.) kick, but William Carey wasn’t going to be denied as Mariangela Jimenez made the fourth kick for the Crusaders to even things up. Sarah Hammerstone and Samantha Sokolove both converted for the Cumberlands (Ky.) to secure the 3-2 PK shootout victory and collect their first ever red banner in program history.

William Carey outshot the Cumberlands (Ky.) 37-6 in the match with the most Crusader shots happening in the second half where they had 19. Corner kicks were fairly even, but William Carey had the upper hand on corners 8-5.

2023 NAIA National Championship All-Tournament Team

Outstanding Defensive Player Award: Ariana Stoltzfus, Spring Arbor (Mich.)

Outstanding Offensive Player Award:  Mariangela Jimenez, William Carey (Miss.)

Most Valuable Player: Maria Azarias, William Carey (Miss.)