DECATUR, Ala.—Playing its best soccer of the season, the No. 8-seeded Concordia women’s soccer team used a flurry of first-half offense to skip past No. 5-seeded Point Loma Nazarene 4-0 in the semifinals of the NAIA National Championships on Friday.

The win advances the Cavaliers to the NAIA National Championship match for the third time in school history. Concordia will face three-time defending NAIA national champion and No. 3 seed in Lee University (Tenn.) after the Lady Flames dispatched No. 2-seeded Azusa Pacific College (Calif.) 2-0 in the second semifinal of the afternoon at the Jack Allen Sports Complex.

Kickoff for the championship bout is set for 5 p.m. (CST).

The 4-0 win over Point Loma Nazarene also boosted the Cavs record to 19-4-1 overall this season, while Point Loma lost only its second match of the season to drop to 19-2-4. Point Loma had advanced to the semifinals after back-to-back wins in penalty kicks over Westmont (Calif.) and Baker (Kan.).

For the second straight day, CU jumped out with an early lead against a higher-seeded team. After posting a goal in the 4th minute versus top-seeded Lindsey Wilson on Wednesday, the Cavaliers broke open the game’s scoring in the 16th minute. Led with a pass from backline partner Brittany Orr, Lauryn Helmers surprised the Sea Lions by launching a 25-yard blast from the left side into the upper corner of the net.

Minutes later the forward tandem of Hannah Scott and Alex Thomas connected for a close-range attack. Pushing the ball inside the box, Thomas punched the ball to Scott who willed the second score of the game after PLNU keeper Tiffany Kracy failed to completely corral the orb.

 Twenty minutes later, Concordia started a second pair of goals with Alex Blalock and Jackie Hendrickson placing successful strikes at the 40:12 and the 44:37 mark. Sydney Tucker was credited with the assist on Blalocks’s score while Hayley Hayes nabbed the assist on Hendrickson’s tally giving CU eight different players that registered a point in the half.

“It's been a special week seeing this team come together,” CU head coach Grant Landy said. “We asked them to leave the egos at the door and play for each other and that is definitely showing with their play on the field. We have been preaching team mentality with everyone contributing and when you have eight different players involved in your scoring plays that really shows the quality of your depth.”

After outshooting the Sea Lions 8-to-2 in the first half with seven of the attempts counting as on goal, the Cavs used a possession game to wind down the clock and complete the team’s 14th shutout of the season. Tori Talbutt stopped three attempts while Robyn Neimann saw her first action of the tournament and denied one attempt while playing the final nine minutes in between the posts for CU.

Kracy ended the match with four saves against the four goals scored against. Boasting one of the top defenses in the country with 18 shutouts during the year, the Sea Lions had only given up six goals in its first 22 matches prior to the national tournament.

The four goals against Point Loma Nazarene are the most scored for CU at the final site of the national tournament. The Cavs also scored four goals in opening round game against Oklahoma Christian in 2006 and notched five scores in the opening round game against St. Ambrose (Iowa) in 2008.

Concordia is 0-3-0 all-time against Lee University. The two teams met early in the season in Portland with Lee coming up with a 1-0 win on August 20. Saturday’s contest will be a rematch of the 2008 championship game where Lee defeated Concordia 3-0 en route to their first national title. The sides met again the following year in the NAIA semifinals with Lee earning a 1-0 win.

“It's not a matchup we are unfamiliar with as we have faced each other in postseason before. They have a special program and have accomplished great things over the years,” Landy said. “We are excited about the matchup as it should be a great game and that is exactly what you want in a championship final.”

As the eighth seed, Concordia would become the lowest seeded team to capture an NAIA women’s soccer title. Simon Fraser (B.C.) won it all in 2000, the first year under the current seeding format, as a No. 6 seed. Lee defeated Concordia as the No. 3 seed in 2008 while Westmont (Calif.) defeated Azusa Pacific in 2002 as the only other No. 3 seed to win a title.