10.27.08 Impressive Crusaders Dowse Blazers Fire Advance To Championship Game

The William Carey Crusaders (9-10) advanced to the G.C.A.C. Tournament Championship Game with an impressive 4-0 victory over #2 seed Belhaven College (10-8-1) on Friday (10/26). The Carey men dowsed the Blazer fire early on and played their best game of the season.

Carey dominated from the start and put in a full 90 minute performance of pace, power and energy. Carl Reynolds opened the scoring in the 34th minute from the penalty spot to give the 3rd seeded Crusaders a deserved lead. In the second period Carey never let up and dominated as captain Chris Schaefer netted twice either side of Brendan Connolly's smart goal to run out 4-0 winners. The overall shot count was 21-8 in favor of the Crusaders. 

Coach Nigel Boulton was pleased with his teams performance saying, "That was more like it. That was the best performance of the season and the first time we have played the full ninety minutes with complete focus and intensity. We had a good week in practice leading into the tournament and it was reflected in this game. I always knew we could play like this, I'm just not sure the players realized how good we could be. But it's only half-time in the tournament, we have a final game against Mobile to play and that will tell us even more about where we are. We should be confident and ready for the challenge". 

#1 seed Mobile defeated Spring Hill College 2-1 in the other semi-final game and is ranked #8 in the nation with a record of 13-2-1. The Championship Game will be played at 8.00pm Saturday at Crusader Field on the campus of William Carey University.

                       Captain Chris Schaefer netted twice against Belhaven