College of Charleston 1, Appalachian State 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. ? The College of Charleston women’s soccer improved its SoCon record to 2-0 with a victory against Appalachian State, 1-0, at Patriots Point on Sunday afternoon.
Freshman midfielder Chrissy Caruso scored the lone goal of the match in the 12th minute of action to give CofC (4-4-2, 2-0-0 SoCon) the advantage, 1-0. Caruso netted a deflected header in the penalty box from sophomore midfielder Danielle Jordan. Jordan received credit for the assist.
“The thing we’ve improved most throughout the season has been our ability to take advantage of scoring chances,” said CofC head coach Kevin Dempsey. “Chrissy’s (Caruso) goal off of Danielle’s (Jordan) header showed her offensive awareness in an offensive opportunity.”
The first half ended with CofC taking six shots and three corner kicks, while Appalachian State (7-5-0, 3-1-0 SoCon) attempted two shots and three corner kicks.
In the second half, CofC incorporated key substitutes to withstand the aggressive play of Appalachian State.
“We relied on our substitutes, Kate Defino, Christian Patton, Kelly McGinty and Amanda Andrews, to relieve our starters at crucial moments of the match,” said Dempsey. “We played our second match in three days today, in hot weather, and asked our substitutes to protect our lead. They did this job very well.”
In the entire match, CofC had 12 shots, while Appalachian State had only six.
CofC also attempted eight corner kicks, while Appalachian State took six corner kicks.
Freshman Sarah Wiggers made four saves in the match for her second consecutive SoCon shutout. Overall, she has four shutouts this season.
“We lost some close matches earlier this season and learned from those experiences. Our young players showed their new found maturity in this match” said Dempsey. “I’m also happy to win our first home game of the season. We’re on the road for our next three matches, so it’s good to leave Patriots Point with a victory.”
CofC has never started a SoCon season 2-0.
The Cougars return to action on Oct. 5 against Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. The match will begin at 3 p.m.
Davidson 7, The Citadel 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. Sophomore Tracy McCausland (Albuquerque, N.M.) netted her first two goals of the season and assisted on another in helping lead the Davidson women's soccer team to a season-high seven goals in rout to a 7-0 Southern Conference win over The Citadel on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium. The win moved the Wildcats record to 6-4-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play, while the Bulldogs dropped to 1-11-1 overall and 0-3 in the SoCon. Davidson also remained perfect against The Citadel, improving to 6-0-0 in the all-time series.
The two-goal effort by McCausland was her first-ever career two-goal game and she finished the contest with five points. She got off a season-high seven shots as well in helping give Davidson a 32-2 advantage in the shot department. In addition, the seven goals by the Wildcats were the most scored since 2004 when Davidson defeated The Citadel 12-0 on Oct. 13.
Close to 10 minutes in the game, freshman Suzanne Sittko (Greenwood Village,
Colo.) would get the only goal Davidson would need on the afternoon thanks to the help of McCausland. The junior sent the ball to the middle of the box, where Sittko received it, squared herself around to the goal and booted the ball past the diving Bulldog goalie, Emily Green, through the right side for her second marker of the year. Sittko also added an assist later in the game.
Shortly after Sittko's goal, fellow freshman Blakely Low (San Antonio,
Texas) scored the Wildcats second marker at the 11:37 mark when she got a through ball from senior Anne Stevens (Bexley, Ohio) and then went one-on-one with the goalie for her first career collegiate goal, giving Davidson a 2-0 advantage. Low was making her first career start as well.
The Wildcats added two more goals in the half behind the senior duo of Heidi Wilbrandt (Woodstock, Ill.) and Amanda Traver (Duanesburg, N.Y.). Wilbrandt scored the third goal of the contest and her first of the year at 35:07 mark on a header in the box after freshman Sophie Funderburk (Wilmington, N.C.) just missed a shot off the post.
Two minutes later, Traver gave the Wildcats its third different scorer on the afternoon when freshman Kyri Bye-Nagel (Hanau, Germany), who earned her first career assist, crossed the ball to Traver who was just outside the goalie box and fired a shot pass Green for a 4-0 Wildcat lead at halftime.
McCausland opened the second half by netting her first goal of the season in the 48th minute on a penalty kick after she was pulled to the ground by a Bulldog defender in the 18-yard box. The junior placed the free kick to the left side of the goal and Davidson led 5-0.
Freshman Katharine Laco (Bethesda, Md.) became the fourth player to score their first goal of the year when Sittko sent a through ball to Laco in the box, who then chipped it over the head of new goalie Brit Bunnell at the
54:37 mark for a 6-0 Davidson lead.
McCausland capped off the offensive outburst for Davidson with her second goal of the contest off a cross from Traver in the 67th minute, finishing off the scoring and giving the Wildcats the 7-0 win.
Junior Bevin English (Charleston, S.C.) was not called upon often, but she did register a save and earned the shutout win, her fourth shutout of the season.
Green and Bunnell combined for nine saves between the posts for The Citadel.
Rachelle Ornelas, who entered the game tied for first with five goals in the conference, was held scoreless, but did record two of the Bulldogs three shots.
Davidson finishes its two-game homestand on Thursday, Oct. 5 vs. Furman at 7 p.m.
Wofford 2, Guilford 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Two goals, one in each half, plus a controlling possession attack sparked the Wofford women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Guilford Sunday night at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
The Terriers maintained possession throughout much of the contest and used it to their advantage, as they outshot the Quakers 18-5 including 10-2 in the second half, in the win.
Wofford (3-4-2) put its first tally on the scoreboard at 6:37 when junior Whitney Steelman sliced through the Guilford defense and found the back of the net behind goalkeeper Veronica Zych. The goal was Steelman's third of the season, tying her with senior Jessica Connett and freshman Kendra Merchant for the team lead.
Merchant registered her third of the campaign in the second half after receiving a pass near the top of the 18-yard box, then using a move to get around a Quaker defender before going one-on-one with Zych. Her insurance goal came from 15 yards out at 49:14.
Senior Austin Somers played the opening 45 minutes in goal before being relieved for freshman Becca Maloney at half as the pair combined on the Terriers' fourth shutout of the season. Guilford's (7-4) Zych stopped six Wofford shots, while the Quakers' Jennah Carter had three of her team's five attempts.
Steelman paced all players with four shots with Merchant and senior Bernie Sikes each recording three.
The Terriers will return to Southern Conference action with a 5 p.m. Friday meeting at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.
Georgia Southern 1, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Chattanooga women’s soccer team outshot Georgia Southern 16-11 Sunday afternoon, but fell 1-0 in a tightly contested Southern Conference match at the North River Soccer Complex.
Senior Melyna Valdez got off five shots, three on goal, for the Lady Mocs, but failed to find the back of the net. Sophomore strike Nikki Brannen got off three shots for Chattanooga and senior Tessa Drumsta hit a header off a corner kick that was saved by GSU keeper Lauren Santos late in the second half.
Georgia Southern’s Ashley Toussaint took a cross from Susanne Rogers on the right side of the box and knocked a shot into the upper right corner of the box out of reach of Chattanooga keeper Stacey Matthiessen for the lone score of the day. Toussaint had two shots for the Eagles as did Katie Gosnell and Holli Finneren.
Matthiessen, who is ranked sixth in the nation with 8.56 saves per game, made three stops on the day. Chelsea Hurst, Arielle Lankford and Marlee Jenkins each had two shots for the Lady Mocs.
Chattanooga (3-6-1, 0-3-0 SoCon) will travel to UNC Greensboro for a Friday night matchup against the Spartans before returning home to host Elon on Sunday, Oct. 8. The Eagles (3-6-1, 1-1-0 SoCon) will host the College of Charleston Thursday in Statesboro, Ga., at 4 p.m.
Furman 0, Elon 0
Greenville, S.C. -- The Furman Lady Paladins stretched their shutout streak to three games and 290 minutes with a 0-0 draw against Elon on Sunday afternoon at Stone Soccer Stadium.
Elon controlled the possession in the opening minutes and created the two best scoring opportunities of the first half. Stacy Simpson denied the Phoenix on an early one versus one with a sliding tackle and goalkeeper Briana da Mota turned away Molly Calpin’s 16-yard effort with a sprawling save at the 36:50 mark of the half.
Furman, who out shot the Phoenix 19-8, missed on its best opportunity to score with less than two minutes remaining in the second overtime period.
Chelsea McKie collected the ball in the left channel just outside the box and fired a dipping shot that carrumed off of the cross bar.
Furman, 4-6-1 overall and 2-0-1 in Southern Conference play, held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks while shots on goal were equal at 6-6.
Lizz Johnson recorded her second shutout for Elon (3-7-1, 0-2-1) while da Mota collected six saves for her third clean sheet of the season.
Furman returns to action Thursday when it travels to face the Davidson Wildcats in a 7 p.m. contest.
UNC Greensboro 1, Western Carolina 1
GREENSBORO, NC ? UNC Greensboro battled Southern Conference rival Western Carolina to a 1-1 draw in women’s soccer action on Sunday afternoon at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
The Spartans (3-7-2, 2-0-1) went on the board first early in the second half. Heather Deutschle sent the ball to Shannon Donovan just passed midfield. Donovan passed to freshman Kelly Attayek who drew keeper Alesha Row out of the goal and shot it past Row to score in the 50th minute and put UNCG up 1-0. The goal was Attayek’s first collegiate goal.
Western Carolina (5-5-2, 1-1-1) would get the equalizer off a corner kick in the 69th minute of the match. Shannon Fowkes launched the ball into the box where Rebekah Mumm leaped to get a head on it for the goal. The two teams fought hard for the remainder of the second half but concluded regulation in a 1-1 tie.
In the first overtime session, the Catamounts shot a pair of shots but could not get the goal. In the second overtime period, UNCG had two good looks on goal including an attempt from Attayek but neither team was successful in producing the game-winner. The Spartans held a 12-10 shot advantage as well as a 5-3 lead in corner kicks for the match.
In goal, Katherine Ryan recorded three saves for UNCG and Row had four for Western Carolina.
“It was a hard fought game,” head coach Eddie Radwanski stated, “We scored a good goal in the second half but we lacked concentration on the goal for Western Carolina. Both teams worked hard to finish in a draw.”
UNCG continues SoCon play when it hosts Chattanooga on Friday at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. Kickoff set for 7 pm.