The No. 4 seeded Central Methodist women advance to the national quarterfinals after shutting out unseeded Hastings College 4-0 in the NAIA National Tournament Round of 16 Tuesday night in Foley, Ala.

With the win, Central improves to 19-2-1 overall and is one win away from posting its fourth straight 20-plus-win season. The Broncos see their season come to an end with a final record of 16-3-3.

Central took the field with a mission, taking offensive control early with a shot on goal in the sixth minute via Kirstine Lykke.

The Eagles tallied their first goal in the 29th minute when Mariana Barreto found Andrea Jimenez for the score. Ten minutes later, Larissa Ozorio found Nerea Munoz near the back post on a free kick for the second goal of the match, pushing Central’s lead to 2-0.

Lykke delivered a sucker punch with a goal less than 90 seconds later on the assist from Celine Witt to put Central up 3-0 at the halftime break. CMU’s defense held Hastings without a shot for the entirety of the first half.

The fourth and final goal of the match came from Witt in the 54th minute. Freshman Delia Letelier found the junior forward unmarked inside the box for the easy tap-in for the score. 

CMU controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish, firing off 16 total shots compared to three for the Broncos. Lykke led the Eagles with three shots, as all three came on frame. 

Lacey Ann Murray, Munoz, and Barreto all tallied two shots. 

Freshman goalkeeper Candela Blanco Esteban picked up two saves in a full 90 minutes between the posts. 

The Eagles will face 2021 NAIA National Champions and No. 12 seeded Tennessee Southern in the national quarterfinals at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday). A win would punch Central’s ticket to the semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons and the first time since 2021.