Chattanooga 2, Wofford 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Chattanooga netted a pair of goals after the half to ruin Wofford Senior Night festivities for a 2-0 Southern Conference victory at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C., Friday.
The Terriers honored their five seniors prior to the game, as they recognized Kara Bennewitz, Kelly Broderick, Natalie Ferrara, Rachel Hyatt and Whitney Steelman despite it not being the quintet's final home contest. Broderick, who suffered a career-ending injury in the season's first tilt, donned the uniform and started before being removed shortly after the kickoff.
The two teams battled to a scoreless first half despite Wofford (5-8-2, 1-4-1 SoCon) holding a 7-4 shot edge. Chattanooga (1-9-2, 1-4-1 SoCon) kept battling, however, and the Lady Mocs broke the juggernaut at 82:01 when Katie Page beat the Terrier defense and sent a shot across the goal mouth past goalkeeper Katie McChesney's for the game's first score.
The Lady Mocs then tacked on another tally, at 89:22, when Cassie Bowman, with a Wofford defender on her back, turned and fired a shot over McChesney into the back of the net for the final margin.
The Terriers held a 10-3 shot advantage in the second stanza and 17-7 overall, but Chattanooga had one more corner kick than the hosts, 4-3.
Milla Junni registered eight saves in net for the Lady Mocs for the shutout.
Wofford will return to action at 2 p.m. Sunday when it travels to Elon, N.C., to face Southern Conference foe Elon.
Georgia Southern 1, Western Carolina 1 (2OT)
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern’s Jenny Anderson scored her second goal on the season, Friday night (Oct. 19) in a Southern Conference match-up versus Western Carolina, but the Catamounts evened up the score, and the game ended in a 1-1, double-overtime deadlock at Eagle Field.
The Eagles (2-10-2, 1-4-2) got up on the scoreboard first in the 11th minute when Anderson (Birmingham, Ala.) received a slot pass from Ashley Toussaint (Warner Robins, Ga.) and shot it into the left side of the goal.
“Ashley did a good job of drawing two defenders toward her,” said head coach Ashley Hart. “Jenny did a good job of finishing.”
Despite Western Carolina’s (8-7-1, 3-3-1) lead in shots (4-2) and corner kicks (7-0), Georgia Southern held on for the 1-0 first-half advantage going into the locker room.
Western Carolina increased their offensive force in the second stanza, firing off nine shots ? four on goal ? compared to Georgia Southern’s three second half shots.
Although the Catamounts produced more opportunities, the Eagles were successful in holding off the visitors’ attack until the 81st minute when Western Carolina’s Bri Cunningham tapped in a low, crossed pass from Lauren Atkinson inside the box. Cunningham’s game-tying goal was her third winner of the season.
Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Santos (Berwyn, Ill.) and the Georgia Southern defense were key in stopping WCU’s late opportunities. Santos saved two shots in the last six minutes of regulation before sending the game into overtime.
Toussaint tallied a pair of shots in the first overtime but both went high and wide. Western Carolina almost ended the game with five seconds remaining on a Nikki Lombardo shot that hit the cross bar, which was rebounded and immediately followed by a Shannon Fowkes shot on goal. Santos was there to make the last save as time expired.
In the second overtime, neither team was successful in their offensive opportunities as the match ended in a stalemate.
“Today we played well as a team,” said Hart. “We knew they were going to be coming out very intense. We were able to match their intensity very well, both offensively and defensively.”
In 110 minutes of play, Santos made six saves on the day to pick up the tie in the goal, while Catamount keeper Caitlin Williams made one save.
Western Carolina led the Eagles 18-7 in total shots and 13-0 in corner kicks.
Georgia Southern will hit the road to face SoCon opponent Appalachian State, Sunday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. at ASU Soccer Stadium. Western Carolina will head home to face Davidson, Sunday afternoon, for their final regular-season game at the Catamount Athletic Complex.