Holmes to face Cape Fear in Monday's NJCAA National Tournament opener

RIDGELAND --- The No. 3 ranked and MACCC/Region 23/Gulf South District champion Holmes Community College Lady Bulldogs go into the NJCAA Division II National Tournament as the nation's No. 1 seed and will open pool play on Monday at 11 a.m. CST vs. the No. 12 seeded Cape Fear Community College Sea Devils, who were not ranked in the final NJCAA poll. They then will play No. 8 seeded Schoolcraft on Wednesday at 11 a.m. CST.

The Lady Bulldogs, 16-1-2 overall, claimed the Region 23/Gulf South District title last weekend at Jones College over the Northwest Rangers on penalty kicks. They defeated Pearl River on Friday, 1-0.

The Sea Devils, 11-2-1, out of Wilmington, N.C. claimed the South Atlantic District Championship with a 5-3 win over Louisburg on Oct. 29. They defeated Patrick & Henry on Oct. 27, 9-0.

At this point, the Lady Bulldogs have 78 goals averaging four goals per contest and had 256 shots on goal and 449 shots. Brianna Lopez leads the Lady Bulldogs in goals scored with 14. Callie McKinney has 12, Jaycelyn Russ has 11, Darian Blackburn and Tailynn Remmel each have seven goals. Lopez leads the Lady Bulldogs in assists with 15 while Remmel has six while Russ has five and McKinney, Kaci Craft, Olivia Deslatte and Jaelyn Hanson each have four. Lopez has 43 points, McKinney has 28, Russ has 27, and Remmel has 20.

Jordan Bertschler and Karly Murphy split time in goal for the Lady Bulldogs. Bertschler has played 835 minutes and has 37 saves while Murphy has 38 saves in 820 minutes. They each played a part in the 14 shutouts on the season. The two only gave up seven goals the entire season.

At this point, the Sea Devils have 84 goals averaging six goals per contest and had 215 shots on goal and 269 shots. Maya McDonald leads the Sea Devils in goals with 28 while Alyssa Wright has 18 and Halie Blizzard has 11. Wright leads in assist with 15 while Lauren Laux has 13.

Catherine Jupena and Micah King split time in goal for the Sea Devils. Jupena has played 575 minutes and has 33 saves while King has 490 minutes in net and has 30 saves. They have seven shutouts on the season.

The schedule for the tournament includes: Monday, November 14, 10 a.m., #1 Holmes vs #12 Cape Fear; 12:30 p.m., #2 Phoenix vs #11 South Suburban; 3 p.m., #3 Heartland vs #10 CCBC Essex; and 5:30 p.m., #4 Northwest vs #9 Northeast; Tuesday, November 15, 10 a.m., #8 Schoolcraft vs #12 Cape Fear; 12:30 p.m., #7 Southwestern Ill. vs #11 South Suburban; 3 p.m., #6 Jones vs #10 CCBC Essex; and 5:30 p.m., #5 Pima vs #9 Northeast; and Wednesday, November 16, 10 a.m., #1 Holmes vs #8 Schoolcraft; 12:30 p.m., #2 Phoenix vs #7 Southwestern Illinois; 3 p.m., #3 Heartland vs #6 Jones; and 5:30 p.m., #4 Northwest vs #5 Pima.

Thursday will be an off day, and semifinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. with the national championship on Saturday at 12 p.m.

Fans can watch the matches at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/njcaa/. Cost is $10 per match, $25 for the Women's Division II Tournament or $100 for all NJCAA National Championships.