The No. 2 West seeded Covenant women's soccer team used two second-half goals to break a 1-1 tie and defeated No. 1 East seed Methodist, 3-1, in a USA South Tournament semifinal on Friday night.
Covenant (12-5-2) advances to the USA South Tournament championship for the second time and will face No. 1 West seed Piedmont on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Duggins Soccer Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C.
An impressive display at goal for Covenant keeper Lucy Sandhoff and two goals in the second half enabled the Scots to get by the host Monarchs, snapping Methodist's 11-match win streak.
Tied 1-1 at the half, Rachel Wall put the Scots up for good in the 50th minute.
Kailey Burrell got by a defender and slid the ball across the six-yard box to an open Wall, who converted on the chance from short range to make it 2-1. The goal was Wall's seventh of the year.
Methodist (13-2) peppered the net throughout the second half looking for the equalizer, but Sandhoff and the Covenant defense would stand tall. Sandhoff made six saves in the win, including five in the second half, to preserve the lead for the Scots.
Emma Riggs tacked on an insurance goal in the 88th minute. Again, it was Burrell making things happen offensively as she played the ball to the left side of the box and slipped a pass across to Riggs, who then made a defender miss and scored from inside the box to give the Scots a 3-1 lead.
The score was Riggs' fifth of the season.
Covenant took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute. Burrell aided on Mae Pierce's goal as her through ball allowed Pierce to track it down and score to give Covenant a 1-0 edge.
Methodist evened the score in the 44th minute as Laura Harris found the back of the net after picking up a loose ball inside the box.
Methodist held a 23-10 advantage in shots, but the Scots put six of their attempts on target. Burrell took four shots and had two assists in the win.
The win sets up a rematch between Covenant and Piedmont. The two teams played into double-overtime on Oct. 12 before Piedmont scored late to eke out a 1-0 win.