Georgia Southern 2, Wofford 1
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern women’s soccer team outshot Wofford 12-5 in the second half which translated into two goals, lifting the Eagles over the Terriers for a 2-1 Southern Conference victory, Thursday afternoon (Oct. 25) at Eagle Field.
Junior forward Ashley Toussaint (Warner Robins, Ga.) scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute to break the 1-1 stalemate and give the Eagles the final advantage. Toussaint netted her fifth goal of the season after rebounding her own shot that was stopped by Wofford keeper Katie McChesney.
With the win, Georgia Southern improves to 3-11-2 overall and 2-5-2 in conference action. Wofford falls to 6-9-2 overall with a 2-5-1 league record.
The first half was uneventful with the teams going into the locker rooms scoreless. Wofford led the shots category at the end of the first half, 5-2 while Georgia Southern edged the Terriers in corner kicks, 2-1.
In the second half it was junior midfielder Audrey Brown (Fort Worth, Texas) who broke the scoring drought. Brown rebounded Toussaint’s saved shot eight yards out and quickly connected for a 1-0 Eagles lead and her third goal of the season.
“We just talked about taking responsibility in the attacking third,” said head coach Ashley Hart. “The more shots we took, the more we gained confidence in front of the net, which finally paid off in the end.”
But Wofford continued to attack and countered with the equalizer in the 82nd minute. Terrier Nikki Siebert dribbled in the left side of the box and slipped a low, angled shot past the keeper into the right side of the net.
Georgia Southern maintained its composure and applied pressure up front which produced several scoring opportunities and the eventual go-ahead goal.
The Eagles defense played an important part of the win, holding the Terriers to five shots in both halves and only four shots on goal.
“I thought our defenders did a very good job tonight, keeping the majority of the play in front of them, and also keeping us organized as a unit,” said Hart.
Senior keeper Laura-Ashley Harris (Jonesboro, Ga.) made three saves in a full day in goal and garners the victory in the net. Wofford’s keeper McChesney made eight saves in 90 minutes of play.
The SoCon match was the final home game of the regular season, and in addition to the celebration of the victory, Georgia Southern women’s soccer, family and fans recognized the five seniors on the team: Harris, Colleen Deignan (Coral Springs, Fla.), Jenni Boykin (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Katie Gosnell (Charleston, S.C.) and Shea Hickey (Atlantic Beach , Fla.).
“I’m proud of our five seniors and I think it’s a good way to send them off for their final home game,” said Hart.
The Eagles won the shots category 14-10, while Wofford edged GSU 3-2 in corner kicks.
Georgia Southern will play its final match of the regular season at it travels to Davidson, N.C. to take on the Wildcats, Thursday, Nov. 1. The game is slated for 7 p.m. The Terriers will return to action at 2 p.m. Sunday when they close their road slate at Appalachian State in Boone, N.C.
UNC Greensboro 2, Appalachian State 1
GREENSBORO, NC ? The UNC Greensboro women’s soccer team remained undefeated in the Southern Conference as they dropped the Appalachian State Mountaineers, 2-1, on a rain-soaked Thursday evening at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
With both UNCG (14-3-1, 8-0-0 SoCon) and the Mountaineers (9-4-3, 3-4-1 SoCon) struggling slightly in the cold, wet air, sophomore Kelly Attayek turned up the heat in the 33rd minute to put the Spartans up 1-0. Senior defender Jamie Corti laid a short pass into the left corner to set Attayek up for the chip shot and her seventh goal of the season.
Freshman Jenn Partenheimer went at Appalachian State’s keeper Emma White once at 20:56 and again in the 18th minute with line-drive shots from the top of the box that sailed just inches over the crossbar, but was unable to connect for the goal.
The Spartans put up several more shot before junior Amanda Olson recorded her first goal of the season with less than five minutes to go in the half. A free kick off the foot of sophomore Lauren Lopez from midline dropped inside the box where Olson got a head on it; a quick flick into the bottom left corner and the Spartans were up 2-0.
Appalachian State’s Carella DiMaggio woke UNCG up in the second half with her third goal of the season. DiMaggio received a short pass from Casey Cleary on the left side and snuck it just inside the far post. DiMaggio’s goal was just the second goal the UNCG defensive line has allowed in conference play.
The Spartans held a 25-10 shot advantage ? 11 of which were on goal - and a 9-2 corner kick advantage over the Mountaineers.
Senior keeper Katherine Ryan recorded three saves and White collected 8. Appalachian State also had one team save.
“The girls played well in the first half,” said head coach Eddie Radwanski, “We got two goals, but I would have liked to see maybe one or two more.”
“The weather was a factor, but we were able to get the job done...and credit to Appalachian State for hanging in there.”
Senior Jamie Corti was named the Greg Harrison UNCG Player of the Game.
UNCG increased its overall conference unbeaten streak to 21 games and its regular-season conference unbeaten streak to 17.
The Spartans remain at home this week as they take on the College of Charleston Cougars, Sunday afternoon for a 1pm kickoff. Appalachian will return home on Sunday, October 28 to face Wofford. Senior day festivities will begin at 2:00 p.m. as Appalachian State will honor this year’s class of three seniors.
AGATE
SCORE BY PERIODS
1 2 Total
Appalachian St. 0 1 1
UNCG 2 0 2
SCORING SUMMARY: UNCG ? Attayek (7) (Corti), 33:43; UNCG ? Olson (1) (Lopez), 40:26; APP ? DiMaggio (3) (Cleary), 79:53; Shots: APP 10, UNCG 25; Saves: APP 9 (White 8, Team 1), UNCG 3 (Ryan 3); Corner Kicks: APP 2, UNCG 9; Fouls: APP 8, UNCG 6 (YC-APP, DiMaggio, 64:41)
Davidson 2, Elon 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. Senior Bevin English (Charleston, S.C.) set the school record for shutouts in a career with her 19th and the sophomore duo of Kyri Bye-Nagel (Hanau, Germany) and Suzanne Sittko (Greenwood Village, Colo.) each scored a goal in leading Davidson to a 2-0 blanking of the Elon Phoenix on a rainy Thursday evening at Alumni Stadium in women's soccer action.
The game was played in a steady, and at times, heavy rain until late in the second half when the rain came to a halt.
The win marked the Wildcats' third straight and ninth in the past 11 games as they improved to 11-4-1 overall and 6-1-1 in league play. They also ran their home mark to 6-1 and are 12-2 the past two years at Alumni Stadium.
Elon dropped its third straight to fall to 5-10-1 overall and 3-5 in SoCon action.
With the 2-0 win, English earned her career-best eighth shutout on the season and moved past Allison Noznesky in the record book in shutouts. Her eight shutouts this year is a SoCon-best and currently ties her with assistant coach Winnie Corrigan for most shutouts in a single season.
English finished the contest with five saves.
Davidson got all the scoring they would need from Sittko, who was recently named Co-Player of the Week, in the first half with a header in the 38th minute. On the Wildcats' fifth corner kick of the game, senior Nancy Haskell (Blacksburg, Va.) sent a pass into the penalty box where Sittko raised above the Phoenix defense and headed in her fourth goal of the season for a 1-0 Wildcat lead. The goal was Sittko's third in the past three games and gives her seven point in that span. It also gave Sittko her second game-winner in as many weeks and was the sixth of her career.
Bye-Nagel tacked on an insurance goal for the Wildcats late in the second half for the final score of 2-0. After senior tri-captain Kristen Koehrn (La Mesa, Calif.) fired a shot inside the 16-yard box, the ball deflected off an Elon defender to Bye-Nagel, who gathered in the loose ball and hit a right-footed strike from 20 yards out to the near post for her team-leading ninth goal of the season in the 76th minute.
Elon was held to just six shots and were only able to get two corner kicks to Davidson's eight.
The Phoenix Lizz Johnson registered 10 saves as Davidson kept her busy all evening, getting off 22 shots and placing 12 of them on goal.
Davidson travels to Chattanooga for its final regular-season road game on Sunday, Oct. 28, with the game set for 2 p.m. Elon will return home for Senior Day on Sunday at 1 p.m. when it will take on the Western Carolina Catamounts at Rudd Field.
Scoring Summary:
38:29 DAV Suzanne Sittko (4) (Nancy Haskell)
76:47 DAV Kyri Bye-Nagel (9) (unassisted)