Former Richmond Hill soccer standout Sarah Hungerford was named a second team Division II Conference Commissioners Association second team All-America Tuesday after helping lead unbeaten Columbus State to a berth in the Final Four of the DII women’s soccer tournament.
This will be Hungerford and the Cougars (22-0-1) second trip to the Final Four in the last three years having advanced two years ago. Top-seeded Columbus State will take on Minnesota State (17-1-7) at 3 p.m. Friday at the SportsPlex in Matthews, N.C. Cal Poly (20-1-2) will play Franklin Pierce (19-3-2) at 6 p.m. with the championship game set for Sunday at a time to be determined.
Columbus State beat West Florida last Saturday in a quarterfinal game at home last Saturday to advance to the semifinals. The two teams finished tied, 0-0, and after two 10 minute overtimes the Cougars won on a 4-3 advantage in PKs.
The former Wildcat will be attempting to become the second Richmond Hill product to play on a national championship team this year. Megan Williams, a freshman, was a key contributor on Reinhardt’s women’s lacrosse team which won the NAIA championship last spring.
Hungerford and former St. Vincent’s Academy standout senior Emma Beddow have been key contributors for the Cougars as each has 28 points as does senior Vanessa Aviles of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif
All three Cougar standouts were first team All-Peach Belt Conference and were PBC All-Tournament picks. It was the fourth straight year Beddow was an all-conference selection while Hungerford was all-conference as a freshman.
Hungerford and Aviles, along with Kelsey Croft were first team D2 Conference Commissioners Association All Southeast Region and Beddow was second team as were keeper Heidi Harris and Avery Williams.
The 5-foot-1 Hungerford was a force for the Cougars down the stretch as she scored goals in five straight games going into the national tournament. She and Aviles lead Columbus State in goals with 12 each.
The Cougars have one of the more potent offenses in DII as they have scored a program record 100 goals this season, averaging 4.35 goals per game as well as 23.0 shots on goal per game. While the offense has been impressive the defense has been stellar as it has allowed only 10 goals and 6.7 shots on goal per game. Harris has registered six straight shutouts and 17 on the season.
Coach Jay Entlich is in his 21st season at Columbus State where he has a 353-73-31 record with 15 regular season PBC championships and 10 conference tournament titles. Of the teams in the Final Four Franklin Pierce has five national titles, the last coming in 1999. This is the first Final Four appearance for Minnesota State and Cal Poly.