Micah Pond celebrated her first title as the captain of Brookhaven College after helping the Lady Bears retain their Dallas Athletic Conference title.

Brookhaven came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw away to Richland College on Monday, which was enough to secure the conference title for the visiting side, who ended the regular season with an overall 10-1-1 record.

The home side took the lead in the eleventh minute before freshman Tatiana Garcia grabbed an equaliser right at the start of the second half.

“One of our goals this season was to remain unbeaten in conference and win our second consecutive conference title,” Robert Williams, Brookhaven’s Bermudian coach, told The Royal Gazette.

“We knew going to Richland and playing them on their home field to clinch the title was going to be a huge task.

“We started the game very sluggish and were punished for it.

“We had to adjust some tactics to settle down and get back in the game.

“The tactics worked and we were able to get a good goal from Tatiana.”

Pond, who plays as a goalkeeper for the Bermuda women’s team and outfield as a midfielder for Brookhaven, is a surviving member from the Lady Bears squad which won both NJCAA Division III Women’s Championship and Region 5 MAC Conference for the first time last season.

“Micah has done a great job keeping the girls motivated,” Williams added.

There was hardly time for Williams’s players to celebrate as they will start the defence of their Region 5 District F title as the top seed in today’s semi-final against Eastfield College.

“It was an amazing feat to clinch the title but all that will mean nothing if we don’t win the Region 5 District F tournament and book our place in the National Tournament for our third consecutive appearance,” Williams said.

“We are feeling pretty upbeat about the semi-final.

“We’ve beaten Eastfield 6-1 and 10-0 respectively, but that all goes out the window in a one off match.

“Any game we lose now will end our season and we fully intend to defend our National Title in Rockford, Illinois.

“I’m really hoping that we can go all the way this year and keep taking this programme forward.”

Brookhaven are the home team; however, the match is being played at a neutral venue.

“We are the home team but the tournament is being held at Mountain View College because they have a stadium and press box,” Williams said.