PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women's soccer team is moving onto the Second Round of the NCAA Division II Tournament after a 4-1 victory over the Union University Bulldogs in Friday afternoon's NCAA South Region first-round matchup. Goals from Ella Niemela (1), Kajsa Lang (1), and Genesis Hernandez (2) led the way for the Sharks.

 
 
Score: Nova Southeastern 4 | Union (TN) 1 
Records: Nova Southeastern (8-5-4, 4-2-3 SSC) | Union University (10-6-2, 8-2-2 GSC)    
Location: UWF Soccer Complex | Pensacola, Fla.    
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• In the 8th minute, Ella Niemela put one in the back of the net from outside the box to give the Sharks an early 1-0 lead. 

• As the first half continued, stellar defense from Emilie Schroeder kept the Bulldogs at bay, keeping it a 1-0 game heading into halftime. 

• The Bulldogs capitalized early in the second half to tie the match at one apiece in the 46th minute. 

• The Sharks offense capitalized in the 64th minute as Kajsa Lang shot a laser to the back of the net off an assist from Haley Mettrick. 

• The Sharks doubled their lead in the 75th minute, as Genesis Hernandez scored for the Sharks off an assist from Sofia Suarez. 

• In the 85th minute, Genesis Hernandez closed out the game by scoring her second of the game off an assist from Kajsa Lang, ultimately sending the Sharks to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 
   

 
 
Coach Amy Vaughan - We are very happy with the girls, opening round is always a difficult game, and to score 4 goals and dominate the game the way we did shows how much improvement we have had across the year. The group stuck together and we're looking forward to moving on. 

Genesis Hernandez - We came out today with a game plan of what we needed to do and even though it started slower than we wanted, we still executed perfectly. This game is a great way to start off this tournament.
 
 
 
The Sharks will stay in Pensacola to take on the number one-seeded West Florida Argonauts in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this Sunday, November 24th at 4:00 PM at the UWF Soccer Complex. 

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