Warriors Cage Bulldogs; Advance to GPAC Finals

SEWARD, Neb. – Midland University took a short trip down to Seward, Nebraska, to face Concordia University in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Semifinals on Tuesday night. The third-seeded Warriors punched their ticket to the next round with a 2-0 win over the second-seeded Bulldogs. Combined with the result of the other conference semifinal match, Midland has earned the right to host the 2023 GPAC Championship on its home turf at Heedum Field.

As the first half was nearing an end, the Warriors' attack put pressure on the Bulldogs' back line. Hanna Schimmer broke her way through the defenders and found the feet of Sydney Herren who sent the ball flying past the keeper in the 36th minute. Midland kept that one-goal lead into halftime as they held a 6-1 advantage in shot attempts.

Both teams came out with solid defensive strategies to start the second. With a ticket to the GPAC Finals on the line, Midland's offense continued to turn up the heat and applied pressure to the Bulldogs. In the 88th minute, the Warriors made the most of their opportunity with a corner kick. With Herren at the corner, she lofted a cross into the box where it found the fortunate head of Addison Castellanos. The ball made its way into the net to give Midland an important insurance goal. The defense withstood the last-minute attack from Concordia to earn the 2-0 victory.

Midland had a big advantage in shot attempts 12-2 with an edge of 5-2 on the frame.

Kyla Pires earned the shutout in net as she collected two saves on the night.

"I personally am on Cloud Nine right now. Seeing how excited the girls are right now, makes it that much better," commented interim head coach Tatum Tremain. "We knew Concordia would be a tough team to defend, so we knew our effort had to be at its max. The girls did exactly that and I couldn't have asked for more."

When asked to take a quick look ahead at the championship match this Friday, Coach Tremain added. "We are excited to see Dordt this Friday. We plan to keep doing what we have been doing. Right now, it is all about the girls and what they can do. We hope to see everyone come out for the game to help add to the atmosphere. The energy from our fans will be massive for us."

Midland (12-4-4) will host fourth-seeded Dordt (12-5-2) in the GPAC Championship on Friday, November 10 in Fremont. The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. at Heedum Field.