Alaskans help Colorado Mines reach first NCAA final four
Two Alaskans are taking part in something historic with the Colorado School of Mines women’s soccer team.
The seventh-ranked Orediggers have reached the NCAA D2 semifinals of the national tournament for the first time and will place eighth-ranked Rollins on Thursday in Kentucky.
Chugiak’s Kendra Bulawa and Anchorage’s Maddie Woodard are both seniors on this year’s team that has posted a 16-1-6 record and is now two wins from a national championship.
“I’m really grateful for having it been with the group of girls that it is,” Woodard told the school’s website. “We kind of struggled at the beginning and I think we kind of proved some people wrong.”
Colorado Mines beat Cal State Stanislaus in a 4-3 shootout in the quarterfinals, with Bulawa scoring a shootout goal.
Bulawa, of Chugiak High fame, had the most productive regular season of her four-year career, posting seven points on a goal and three assists.
The midfielder has collected career totals of 4 goals and 7 assists for 19 points.
Woodard, of West High fame, scored her first goal since 2011 this season.