Brookhaven Captures NJCAA DIII South District Title
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | GIANNA ANTOVONI INTERVIEW | ALEX DENNING INTERVIEW | HIGHLIGHTS
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas – Make it six straight for the Bears.
Dallas College Brookhaven women's soccer team beat Dallas College Richland, 2-0, Saturday to win the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South District championship. It is Brookhaven's sixth consecutive district title, and the win sends the No. 2 nationally-ranked Bears on to the NJCAA Division III National Tournament Nov. 13-17 in Batavia, New York.
"We're excited," Bears freshman forward Gianna Antovoni said. "We're going to stay locked in until we get up there."
Locked in on this sunny Saturday the Bears were in breaking a scoreless draw in the second half when Alex Goncalves scored on a header off Natalia Banda's corner kick in the 68th minute. It was Goncalves' first goal of the season.
"The corner, we had talked about that last game against Eastfield," Bears first-year coach Alex Denning said. "We had four corners that were won by us, and headed up in the air. So we talked about that right before the game. When it came, we were going to have to make sure that we knock it down, and we did, which was huge."
Ten minutes later, Gracie Murillo connected with Kate Carlson to make it 2-0. It was Carlson's fifth goal of the year and third in the district tournament. She had two in the semifinal win over Dallas College Eastfield Thursday.
"Kate's been unstoppable in the tournament, and was in a great position after Gracie beat her girl a good few times, and put in a good ball. Kate got to finish it," Denning said.
Three of the Bears' five shots were on goal, including two by Carlson.
Brookhaven goalkeeper Brianna Flores stopped three shots, including two in the second half with No. 7 Richland (9-4-2) pressing to make runs. Flores lowered her goals against average to 0.56, which ranks sixth in the nation.
"Bri has been absolutely excellent for us," Denning said. "Her mentality has changed throughout the season. She was a kid that I think was a little bit shy to the light of starting. She's not anymore. She's ready for the game, and was up for it."
It is Brookhaven's seventh straight shutout. The Bears have not allowed a goal in the past 682 minutes, dating back to the first half of the 1-1 tie with Richland to end the first half of Dallas Athletic Conference play Sept. 27. The Bears lead the country with 10 shutouts.
"Oh my gosh, the back line has been a rock for us," Antovoni said. "They've just been so clutch in the moments that we need them to be. As we keep going, we're only going to keep getting better. Going against the best, we're going to keep getting better. So we're just excited to play some good competition going up there."
It was the third straight year Brookhaven beat Richland in the district championship.
"All season it's been an every-game thing," Denning said. "I know that there's a big rivalry. It wasn't brought up, probably, much at all with us. It was very much, each game, we're going to do us to the best of our ability, and I think that's why, throughout the season, you see us getting better every game."
