HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Goals in the 54th and 57th minute Saturday enabled unbeaten William Carey to escape with a 2-0 women's soccer victory against Xavier University of Louisiana in the second round of NAIA nationals.
        The Gold Nuggets' debut season — which included a Red River Athletic Conference regular-season championship, an automatic bid to nationals and a first-round tournament victory Thursday against Tennessee Wesleyan — ended at 13-6.
        William Carey (21-0), the No. 1 overall seed, will advance to Foley, Ala., with 15 other second-round winners for the final four rounds Nov. 27-Dec. 4. The Lady Crusaders will play Keiser, a 1-0 winner at College of Idaho, in the round of 16.
        "We should keep our heads held high," XULA head coach Ashley Cordeiro said. "We played the No. 1 team, and we were in the game for a good 60 minutes. We were scoreless at halftime, and that gave our team the confidence that we had a chance."
        The Lady Crusaders broke the tie when Maria Azarias scored at 53:44. Less than two minutes later, it was 2-0 when Christina Salmon scored her team-leading 21st goal of the season.
        After the Lady Crusaders' second goal, they limited XULA to four shots, three on goal. The Gold Nuggets attempted no shots the final nine minutes.
        "We really did hang with (Carey) until they scored the goal, got the momentum," freshman forward Amora Altmon said. "For the most part, we really did stay with them."
        Carey entered Saturday leading the NAIA with 6.6 goals per game. But XULA became the third team this season to limit the Lady Crusaders to fewer than three goals and the fourth team to shut out Carey in a first half. XULA goalkeeper Theresa Wiesiolek made eight saves.
        "Xavier's a tremendous team," Carey head coach Danny Owens said. "Ashley's done a great job putting her team together. They were a better team today than they were on Thursday."
        Altmon, one of 18 Gold Nuggets who could return in 2024 — that includes all the starters — is optimistic.
        "I'm hopeful for next season — to get further than we did this season," Altmon said. "If that was No. 1, then I feel we can go further."