Friday the 13th is seen worldwide as a day for bad luck. Unfortunately, some of that bad luck fell on the T-Ducks as the women’s soccer team faced Dallas College Brookhaven Bears.
The match was an extremely exciting one on paper since it featured the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams in the nation and watching the game did not disappoint.
Paige Elliott, the freshman goalkeeper for the T-Ducks, has continuously proven herself to be one of the top goalkeepers in the country, earning her the NJCAA Div III Player of the Week award this past week.
Elliott’s form continued throughout the game, with her making 11 saves. Moreover, throughout the seven games she has played, she has kept opposing teams from finding the back of the net in six of those games. Not only does this tell us how good the defense is, but her 33 saves in the season also show how valiantly she protects the goal.
The Thunderducks concluded the regular season as the third best team in the country and qualified to the NJCAA DIII South District Semifinals against an opponent that is to be announced. Judging by how the T-Ducks have played all season, they should have no issue in qualifying for the national tournament in November.
The T-Ducks finished the season with a commanding 8-1-3 record, with them dominating on their games, averaging over 24 shots per game and finding the back of the net 34 times in 12 games.
Discipline also played a vital role in this team’s success, with the Thunderducks keeping a perfect record of not receiving a single red card throughout this long season.
While having a high-powered offense, the Thunderducks also managed to build a sort of impregnable defense, managing to keep opponents from scoring in nine out of 12 games.