Box Score For the second straight season, the Lancaster Bible College women's soccer team won the East Region Championship. This year, however, they earned on the field.

Chargers' senior Ally Brown broke a 1-1 tie with 29:58 remaining in the second half as the Chargers defeated Baptist Bible, 2-1 in the NCCAA East Region Final in Lancaster, Pa. Fellow senior Whitney Heise had the assist on Brown's goal as she entered the box and crossed the ball right to Brown who scored into the lower left-hand corner.

In the first half, and for almost the entire game, LBC dominated play and held the ball on BBC's side of the field. LBC sophomore Monica Horning scored at 20:08 to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead. Off a corner kick, Anne Hayward deflected the ball over to Horning who drilled a shot into the upper left-hand corner. 

The Chargers continued to control play until a foul just outside the box gave the Defenders a free kick from 22 yards out. Chargers' goalkeeper Emily Lloyd never saw Melody Lyon's shot as Lyon scored into the left-hand side of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

"I was impressed that we maintained our composure after their goal," Chargers' Head Coach Ken Craul said. "We stayed focused and continued to look to areas to attack."

LBC continued to dominate play after halftime, but even though they didn't score right away, the Chargers stayed positive and kept attacking.

"BBC defends well and I thought we kept our composure even with all of the opportunities we had," Craul said. "I thought we responded well in the second half. I think the ladies handled the pressure of being favored to win very well and didn't let that get to us."

After Brown's goal, the Defenders had a few chances, but nothing serious. LBC continued to apply pressure and didn't let the Defenders have any open field to work with. 

"As a team we transitioned well when we did lose possession which limited their opportunities," Craul said. 

One of the players who helped LBC keep their composure and applied pressure all game long was Brown. Her game-winner obviously made the difference on the scoreboard, but her play for 90 minutes paced the Chargers and LBC fed off of that.

"It's very nice to have Ally back and healthy," Craul said. "She just adds to the threat in our offensive end. She can also provide that constant pressure on their midfielders when we move her inside and she regains possession for us in that area."

LBC led 33-5 in shots and held a 9-0 edge in corner kicks. A dominating performance for 90 minutes, which is something the LBC players wanted to do.

"I know as a team, we did not want to leave any question this year as to who the East Region Champion was," Craul said, addressing last year's East Region Final that was cut short due to snow, before LBC was named East Region Champion as they had a 3-0 lead at halftime when the game was called. 

The Chargers (15-4) will now look ahead to next weekend when they will be the #2 seed in the North Eastern Athletic Conference [NEAC] Playoffs. LBC will play the winner of the Penn St. Harrisburg-Keuka Quarter-Final which will take place on Wednesday. 

"We are looking forward to next weekend," Craul said. "We felt like we did not play as well as we can against Penn St. Berks earlier this season and would love to get another opportunity, but in order to have that chance, we have to focus on our semi-final game on Saturday."

The Chargers will represent the East Region in next month's NCCAA National Tournament in Kissimmee, Fla. if they do not advance to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. In order to reach the NCAA Tournament, LBC must win the NEAC Final and earn the conference's automatic bid.