Women's soccer team wins big, advances to tournament semifinals

The Eastern Florida State College women's soccer team is heading to the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament semifinals for the fifth time.

The Titans defeated No. 4 seed Arizona Western 6-1 in cold, wet conditions to punch their ticket into the semifinals in Foley, Alabama on Wednesday night.

And the goals came fast as sophomore Cristina Garriga scored the first three goals of the game in a six-minute span to give the Titans a 3-0 lead 23 minutes into the match. It was Garriga's third hat trick of her career.

Teammate and fellow sophomore Ebony Wiseman scored the first of her two goals with 16 minutes remaining in the first half. Her second one came 16 minutes into the second half and Aida Illas made it 6-0 with a penalty kick.

Arizona Western would score with 10 minutes left in the game to make it 6-1.

"It was a big win, the girls were ready to go – freezing but ready to go," Eastern Florida State College women's soccer coach Jeff Carr said. "It was a great result. It was good to get the goals early once again and we got to play everyone again."

The Titans will meet No. 1 Tyler Junior College in the semifinals on Friday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tyler advanced by defeating Monroe Community College 5-1 on Wednesday.