College of Charleston 4, The Citadel 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. ? Freshman Chrissy Caruso’s two first-half goals and sophomore Danielle Jordan’s two assists led the College of Charleston women’s soccer team to victory over The Citadel, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point.
With the victory, CofC improved to 6-6-2 overall and 4-2-0 in Southern Conference matches this season. The Citadel drops to 1-15-1 overall and 0-7-0 in SoCon play this season.
Caruso scored the first goal of match in the third minute of action to give the Cougars the advantage, 1-0. Caruso deflected a corner kick from Jordan past The Citadel’s goalkeeper for the goal.
Caruso scored her second goal of the match at the 6:58 mark of the match by netting home a crossing pass from Jordan. Caruso now has five goals this season, which is fourth in the SoCon this season. Jordan’s four assists this season are also fourth in the SoCon.
Senior Teryn Schuetz scored her second goal in three matches for CofC in the 24th minute of action to make the score, 3-0, in favor of the Cougars. Schuetz chipped her shot past the goalkeeper on the left side of the goal after receiving a strong crossing pass on the right side from freshman Brittany Schneider.
Junior Kelly McGinty blasted her third goal of the season from just inside of the penalty box at the 65:46 mark to make the final score, 4-0.
“I’m happy with the win, because we were able to take advantage of scoring opportunities and net some goals,” said head coach Kevin Dempsey. “Everyone on the team played well and made a positive contribution to the match.”
Sophomore Sarah Wiggers had three saves in the match for her fourth victory and fifth shutout of the season. Her five shutouts leads the SoCon.
Brit Bunnell had seven saves and Emily Green had two saves each for The Citadel in the match.
Overall, CofC attempted 26 shots and 10 corner kicks, while The Citadel took four shots and three corner kicks.
CofC has won all six lifetime matches against The Citadel in women’s soccer.
The Cougars return to action on Oct. 19 against SoCon foe Davidson at Patriots Point. The match begins at 7 p.m.
Western Carolina 1, Chattanooga 0
Chattanooga, Tenn. ? Freshman Nikki Lombardo’s golden goal inside the 103rd minute lifted the Western Carolina Catamounts to a 1-0 win over the Chattanooga Lady Mocs Sunday afternoon at the North River Soccer Complex. The win, Western’s fourth-straight, ran the Catamounts’ unbeaten streak to five and moved WCU into a tie for second in the SoCon with Furman.
After battling through two halves and one, 10-minute overtime session scoreless, Lombardo received a pass from senior Meghan Reilly following a Lady Moc turnover in the offensive third and launched a shot from 20 yards out that found the upper left corner of the goal for the game-winner.
Western Carolina (9-5-2, 5-1-1 SoCon) peppered the Chattanooga net to the tune of 31 shots to 12 by the Lady Mocs on the afternoon, firing 14 shots in both the first and second half. The Catamounts also held a 6-to-1 edge in corner kick opportunities with all of WCU’s chances coming in regulation and UTC’s lone corner occurring in the first overtime period.
Chattanooga keeper Stacey Matthiessen snagged 13 saves to keep the Catamounts at bay, while WCU freshman net minder, Kelly Gulledge, made five stops to keep UTC off the board. Gulledge improved to 5-0-0 on the season with her third-career shutout victory.
Through the first 45 minutes, the tide swayed back and forth, with Western holding possession in the offensive zone but Chattanooga making a few rushes into their offensive third to register four shots. The scoreless deadlock would persist through intermission.
Out of the break, Chattanooga had an early opportunity as forward Chelsea Hurst broke to the goal and out dueled her defenders and got off a shot toward a near empty goal, but the shot went wide. After that, however, Western turned up its intensity, playing the majority of the second stanza in its offensive zone. Despite numerous shots on the Moc cage, Western could not push a goal across in regulation nor in the first OT setting up Lombardo’s heroics.
Western has most of this week off before returning to the pitch at the Catamount Athletic Complex this Friday against the Georgia Southern Eagles (6-8-0, 4-3-1 SoCon) for a special Noon kickoff. Friday’s match is Education Day with area school children invited to spend the day on-campus in Cullowhee. Everyone is also invited to spend their lunch break with the Catamounts for the key SoCon match-up.
Georgia Southern 1, Elon 0
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Sophomore Ashley Toussaint’s (Warner Robins, Ga.) goal with 20 minutes left in the contest was the final margin for Georgia Southern who prevailed 1-0 over Elon Sunday in Southern Conference womens soccer action from Eagle Field.
The win moves the Eagles to 6-8-1 overall and 4-3 in the SoCon, while the Phoenix fall to 5-8-1 and 2-3-1.
GSU’s four league wins are the most by the program since going 7-2-1 in 2002.
”I’m proud of our team,” said GSU head coach Ashley Hart. “We came out and fought hard. Elon was well organized. I thought it was a good battle between two good teams. We did a good job of taking advantage of our opportunities and we played smart as a team.”
The two teams had just nine shots combined in the first half and only put three of those on net.
The second half saw more shots and more scoring opportunities. Elon had 13 shots in the final period compared to seven for GSU.
”We went through the motions in the first half. We said “If you want to win this game, you’re going to have to step up and prove you’re the better team.” We raised our level to where we needed to be to win this game.”
Toussaint single-handedly put the Eagles on top at the 70-minute mark. She took a pass midway between the center circle and the top of the 18-yard box in the middle of the field, dribbled through the Elon defense and lifted a shot at the top-left corner of the box over the Phoenix keeper.
Her scoring tally is the fifth of the season which leads the team and sets a new personal best.
Elon’s best chance to tie came with just under five minutes remaining. Georgia Southern keeper Laura-Ashley Harris (Jonesboro, Ga.) was ruled to have handled the ball outside the box, giving the Phoenix a free kick from 18 yards away. But Katie Persichinis (Hudson, Ohio) attempt went over the crossbar.
Harris made her first start of the season and had seven saves for her fourth career clean sheet. Lizz Johnson (Miami, Fla.) made five saves in net for Elon.
Georgia Southern goes on the road for its next match, traveling to Western Carolina Friday. Elon hosts Appalachian State Thursday afternoon.
UNC Greensboro 4, Davidson 1
GREENSBORO, NC ? Senior Shannon Donovan scored two goals in UNC Greensboro’s 4-1 victory over Southern Conference rival Davidson on Sunday afternoon. The Spartans improve to 7-7-2 overall and 6-0-1 in SoCon play and now hold sole possession of first place in the conference with 19 points after a Furman 2-1 loss to Wofford.
Donovan scored the Spartans’ first goal of the day off a penalty kick. After a Wildcat foul in the box, Donovan took the penalty kick for UNCG and shot the ball past Davidson keeper Bevin English to put the Spartans up 1-0 in the 17th minute.
Senior Christine Jodrie got her first collegiate goal for the Spartans in the 43rd minute of the match. Heather Mitrisin sent a corner kick to Donovan who tapped the ball to Jodrie in front of the net. Jodrie flicked it in to give UNCG the two goal advantage. Davidson would not go into the break down two goals however. With 15 seconds left in the first stanza, Heidi Wilbrandt sent a cross to Neely Meeks in the box. Meeks slipped the ball past Spartan keeper Katherine Ryan to make the score 2-1.
The Spartans took control in the second half, putting two more goals on the board. Donovan got her second goal of the match at the 55:05 minute mark. Junior Karla Davis placed her corner kick right to Donovan who sent her shot to the back of the net for the 3-1 Spartan lead.
UNCG got its final goal off another Davis corner kick in the 72nd minute. Davis sent her corner right to the head of senior Deven Beachum who headed in her fifth goal of the season. The Spartans finished the match with a 21-10 shot advantage and Ryan recorded four saves for UNCG.
“I’m very pleased with how we played today,” stated UNCG head coach Eddie Radwanski, “We put up a strong effort against a strong SoCon opponent like Davidson. We were up the challenge and were very good across the board.”
The Spartans play one more regular season home game against Furman on Saturday at 7 pm. UNCG then takes to the road and heads to Charleston to take on The Citadel on Oct. 27 and College of Charleston on Oct. 29.
Wofford 2, Furman 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford women's soccer team played one of its most complete games of the season as the Terriers knocked off Southern Conference co-leader Furman, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
Wofford (5-6-2, 2-4 SoCon) earned its first win against the Lady Paladins since an exact score victory Oct. 13, 1997, in Greenville, S.C. Current head coach Amy Kiah was in her first year as an assistant with the Terriers that season under mentor Josef Lorenz.
The Terriers struck first at 26:47 when junior Whitney Steelman sent a heading-cross to freshman Kendra Merchant, who then fired the ball from 30 yards out to the far post. The tally would stand as Merchant's first game-winning goal of the season and her team-leading fifth of the campaign.
Shortly after halftime, Steelman was again on the assisting end when she sent a long serve to classmate Natalie Ferrara. Ferrara, who received the ball in stride near the top of the 18-yard box, beat Furman (7-7-1, 5-1-1) goalkeeper Briana da Mota in a one-on-one situation to give Wofford the 2-0 edge at 50:34.
The Lady Paladins, however, did not back down from an aggressive offensive attack. Furman had several chances to score before the first mark on the visitor side of the scoreboard was posted at 81:51 by Anna Betton. Betton had an initial shot deflect off the right post directly back to her, then she repositioned herself in front of the goal and found the back of the net past Austin Somers.
Wofford also staved off a Lady Paladin attack in the final five minutes. With just over two minutes remaining in regulation, Sara El-Shami sent a shot just high over the crossbar.
Steelman, who entered the contest leading the Southern Conference with seven assists and 15 poitns, continued her career-best campaign with her two assists, giving her nine on the season. The nine is the most by a Terrier in a single season since Emily Olmstead had a school-record 11 in 1999. Steelman's season tally also ties Amanda Berman in 1999 for the second most in a campaign behind Olmstead.
Furman came into the match tied with UNC Greensboro atop the SoCon standings; however, with the Spartans winning today coupled with a Western Carolina victory, the loss drops the Lady Paladins into a second-place tie with the Lady Catamounts.
Wofford will return to action at 7 p.m. Friday at Chattanooga in league play.