Davidson 3, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Davidson scored twice in a three-minute span early in the second half to break a scoreless deadlock and went on to defeat Georgia Southern 3-1 Sunday in womens soccer action at Eagle Field.
With the win, Davidson improves to 5-3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Southern Conference. Georgia Southern falls to 2-6-1 and 0-1.
”I thought we played well at times,” said GSU head coach Ashley Hart. “Davidson’s a good team and they were well organized. We had a few mental mistakes and lost focus a little bit. But we fought back and managed to put a goal in the back of the net. It’s a game we can build on.”
The ball was on Georgia Southerns defensive end of the field for most of the first half as Davidson peppered the goal with 12 shots. 2005 SoCon Player of the Year Kristen Koehrn (La Mesa, Calif.) had half of the teams total, putting four on goal. GSU netminder Lauren Santos (Berwyn, Ill.) was busy, making six saves.
Both teams rattled the crossbar in the first half, coming inches away from breaking the tie. GSU junior Katie Gosnell (Charleston, S.C.) skimmed the bar on a crossing attempt, and Davidson freshman Sophie Funderburk (Wilmington, N.C.) drew iron on a shot from about 30 yards.
The beginning of the second half was similar to the first, with Davidson controlling possession and getting several scoring chances. The Wildcats finally got on the board on a goal by sophomore Tiffany Mumby (Houston, Texas), who put the ball past Santos in a crowd in front of the net on a cross from freshman Katharine Laco (Bethesda, Md.).
Davidson got lucky on its second goal as junior Nancy Haskells (Blacksburg, Va.) corner kick deflected off Santos and into the net.
The Wildcats stretched their lead to 3-0 when senior Amanda Traver (Duanesburg, N.Y.) put home a rebound off a shot from senior Heidi Wilbrandt (Woodstock, Ill.).
”Our defenders played really well,” Hart added. “They did a good job shutting down Koehrn. And when you give up that many shots, eventually one is going in. Our back four and goalkeeper saved us a lot.”
GSU sophomore Kate Boardman (Hilton Head, S.C.) cut the deficit to 3-1 with just over three minutes remaining in the match. She gathered in a free kick from Gosnell at the top of the box, turned and fired for her second goal of the season.
Junior Bevin English (Charleston, S.C.) wasn’t called upon often as she didn’t register a save, but got the win. Santos allowed all three goals and made eight saves.
Georgia Southern will be on the road for its next two contests, traveling to The Citadel Friday and Chattanooga on Sunday. Davidson resumes conference play Thursday with a road match at Appalachian State.
Appalachian State 2, The Citadel 0
BOONE, N.C. ? Appalachian State University women’s soccer team scored two second-half goals to pull away from a pesky Citadel squad to win, 2-0, at the ASU Soccer Stadium Sunday afternoon. The win was ASU’s second Southern Conference triumph of the season its record now stands at 2-0 in league play and 5-4 overall.
Appalachian outshot The Citadel 15-3 and had seven shots on goal. The Citadel defense played extremely hard in the opening period, limiting ASU to just five shots. The Mountaineers finally got on the board in the 52nd minute with a Casey Cleary (Wellington, Fla,) goal. Cleary, streaking to the far post collected Paige Morrow?s (Chapel, Hill, N.C.) pass from the endline and directed it past the goal keeper.
The Mountaineers tacked on an insurance goal in the 68th minute when Jennifer MacNeill (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) scored off a cross from Caroline Lowe (Raleigh, N.C.) for her team-leading fifth goal of the season.
ASU continued to apply pressure in the second half with a handful of scoring opportunities that were thwarted by The Citadel. Appalachian earned eight corner kicks to the Bulldogs’ two in the win.
Jaclyn Hoffman (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Lowe led all players with four shots each. The Citadel’s Holli Knox recorded two shots.
Appalachian will continue its homestand on Tuesday, September 26 with a 3 p.m. match against VMI at the ASU Soccer Stadium.
Furman 2, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? The Chattanooga women’s soccer team fell 2-0 to Furman under cloudy skies Sunday afternoon at the North River Soccer Complex.
Furman started out quick getting four shots off in the first four minutes of the contest before the momentum turned the Lady Mocs way. UTC outshot the Paladins 14-12 in the first period.
“Furman came out strong at the beginning,” Lady Mocs head coach J.D. Kyzer said. “But then we got ourselves moving and controlled the flow of the game for a while.”
Neither team could find the back of the net in the first half and would go into the intermission scoreless. Furman stepped it up in the second half netting its first score in the 66th minute. Rachel Fry, scoring her second goal of the season scored on a break away and beat out UTC keeper Stacey Matthiessen in front of the goal to take a 1-0 lead.
Furman’s second goal came late in the game at the 84:48 mark. Anna Betton took a pass from Sara El-Shami and found the back of the goal to give the Paladins a little breathing room.
“We played strong today,” Kyzer said. “We just ran out of steam late in the game.”
Matthiessen had a career-high 15 saves on the day, making sliding stops and leaping grabs as she tied the sixth-most ever in a single game. She is third all-time on the Lady Mocs career charts with 287.
“Stacey was making some great saves out there,” Kyzer said. “She had about five one-on-one saves out there and once even won a three-on-one.”
Matthiessen has 77 saves on the season, a personal best, and is ranked 13th in the nation by the NCAA with 7.86 saves per game this season.
The Lady Mocs fall to 3-5-1 overall and are 0-2 in Southern Conference action. Furman moves to 3-6 overall and 1-0 in their league opener. Chattanooga will return to action next Sunday, hosting Georgia Southern at the North River Soccer Complex.
UNC Greensboro 1, Elon 0
ELON, N.C. -- Deven Beachum scored after fighting her way through two Elon Phoenix defenders to score her second goal of the season and lift the UNC Greensboro Spartans to a 1-0 Southern Conference women’s soccer victory at Rhodes Stadium on Sunday night. UNCG now owns a 2-7-1 overall mark and sits at 1-0-0 in SoCon play. Elon fell to 3-6-0, 0-1-0.
Following a scoreless first half in which each team got off one shot on goal, the Phoenix came out and put pressure on the Spartans to start the second stanza. Elon was unable to notch any shots on frame during their attacks, however.
With 8:01 left in regulation and the score still even at zero, Beachum brought the ball up field and fought her way between two Elon defenders who were on her shoulders. Beachum found room and blasted a shot past the keeper for the game-winner. Earlier in the half, Beachum had sent a shot towards an empty net, but missed into the right side of the goal.
Elon’s Lizz Johnson corralled three saves during her 90 minutes in net, while UNCG’s Katherine Ryan stopped one shot.
The Spartans outshot the Phoenix by a 10-3 margin overall and held a 4-1 edge in shots on goal. Both teams committed seven fouls.
Elon will remain at home in SoCon play when College of Charleston visits Rudd Field at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, September 29. UNCG will host Wofford that same day at 7:00 p.m.