Newberry Put Nine Past Converse to Reach Second Straight SAC Final
Newberry didn’t just win their semi-final. They took it apart, piece by piece, and by the end Converse were just glad it was over.
The top seeds beat Converse 9-0 at Setzler Field on Friday, and the numbers are silly. Twenty-six shots to two. Twenty-two shots on goal to one. Twenty penalty corners to none. Six different Wolves scored, the winning streak is now 14 games, and Newberry haven’t conceded a goal since 13 October.
Wibien Dahmen did what Wibien Dahmen does. The SAC Offensive Player of the Year scored twice in 89 seconds in the second quarter, at 18:24 and 19:53, then completed her hat-trick early in the third at 35:13. That took her season tally further clear at the top of the conference scoring charts, and she did it against a side that had no answer for her all afternoon.
Amber Tozana opened the scoring after just 3:35, assisted by Parker Keeler, and finished with two goals and two assists of her own. Philine Kuipers, Finet Heemskerk and Faye Siekmann all got on the scoresheet, and Payton Keeler capped it off with a penalty stroke with 1:22 left. Goalkeeper Kensley Harris had one save to make in the whole 60 minutes. One.
Converse’s season ends here, and there’s no shame in it. They beat Wingate 3-0 in Tuesday’s quarter-final to get to Newberry, and they ran into the best team in the conference on a day when that team were in no mood to be generous. The Valkyries managed two shots all game.
One more win for the repeat
Newberry are defending champions, they’re hosting the final, and they’re now one win from a second straight SAC tournament title. They beat Lander in last season’s final, and they’ll find out on Sunday who stands in their way this time. The other semi-final, second seeds Belmont Abbey against third seeds Lander, was played on Friday evening, and no result had been published by the time this piece was prepared.
Whoever it is, they’ll have watched Friday and known exactly what they’re up against. Newberry are 16-1, they’ve won 14 straight, and their defence hasn’t been breached in a month. For our money, the Wolves are overwhelming favourites to do it again.
The final is Sunday 15 November at 1pm ET (11pm PKT) at Setzler Field in Newberry, South Carolina, streamed on FloSports. The winner takes the SAC title and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament.
