Elon 7, Chattanooga 1
ELON, N.C. ? Katina Boozer and Kerri Speers each scored two goals to lead the Elon Phoenix to a 7-1 rout of the visiting Chattanooga Lady Mocs in Southern Conference women’s soccer action from Rhodes Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, Elon picked up its first SoCon win of the season and now sits at 3-7-1 overall and 1-2-0 in league play. UTC fell to 0-7-2, 0-2-1. Elon’s seven goals were the most for the program since a 7-0 shutout of Delaware State on September 11, 2005.
The Phoenix jumped out just 6:16 into the game when Boozer netted her first score of the afternoon when she took a rebound off the crossbar and beat Milla Junni for the score. Alix Heinicke was awarded the assist on the tally. Speers found the back of the net for her first score of the season at 17:07. The marker came off a Katie Persichini corner.
Boozer put the Phoenix up 3-0 at 22:54 with her sixth goal of 2007. Alanna Winsper played a long ball over the Chattanooga defense to Boozer who beat Junni one-on-one.
The Lady Mocs got on the board just under two minutes later when an Elon foul set up a UTC free kick from about 20 yards out. Cassie Bowman’s blast went to the right side of the frame for the unassisted score at 24:18.
Elon answered right back as Winsper took a pass from Molly Calpin in the box and scored her first of the year at 25:51.
The Phoenix kept the offense coming in the second half. Just two minutes in Speers scored again. The one was set up when Laura Norwind played a long ball to Calpin who dished off to Speers for Elon’s fifth score.
At 64:47, Liz Payne took the ball from a Chattanooga defender at the top of the box and rifled a shot into the net for her first collegiate score. Megan Deutschle added the first goal of her career at 76:52 when Jessica Weaver sent a cross through the box to her feet. After a touch, Deutschle blasted the ball home for the score.
Elon’s Lizz Johnson allowed one goal and corralled two saves in 58:29 in goal. Kaitlin Lannon logged the final 31:31 in frame and did not have to make a save. Junni finished the afternoon with 12 saves.
The Phoenix ended the day with season-highs in both total shots (30) and shots on goal (19). The Lady Mocs got off four total shots, three of which were on frame.
Elon will return to the pitch to take on The Citadel at 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon in Charleston, S.C. Chattanooga will play host to Appalachian State at 7:00 p.m. that same day.
Western Carolina 2, The Citadel 1
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina women’s soccer team, behind the strength of 39 shots and their normally stingy defense, defeated The Citadel, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at the Catamount Athletic Complex.
The Cats (7-6-0, 2-2-0 Southern Conference) went up early when only six minutes into the match when sophomore forward Shannon Fowkes took a crossing pass by Kellie Oberholtzer and fired a shot from 16 yards out into the far corner of the goal. It was Fowkes’ third goal of the season, tops on the team.
The score would remain 1-0 until the 54 minute mark of the second half, when The Citadel’s Emily Haller seemingly surprised the Catamount defense with a chip shot from the left side of the goal that looked as if it would be too high until it snuck under the goalpost for the score, tying the match at one.
Western would hold strong until 11 minutes later when Catamount midfielder Rachael Shomper took a rocket of a shot from the top of the 18 yard box that caught the upper left hand corner of the net, far out of reach of the Bulldog goalkeeper, for the game-winning goal. Kellie Oberholtzer recorded the assist for both goals on the match, giving her a total of three for the season, second best on the team.
The final score, while low, does not indicate the offensive dominance displayed by WCU in the match. Despite The Citadel (3-9-0, 0-4-0) having almost their entire team packed in on defense, the Catamounts still managed to fire off 39 shots, the most since the inaugural WCU Soccer team took 49 shots back in 1999. The shots were generated by Western’s ability to keep the ball in their side of the field for almost the entire match. Coach Tammy DeCesare said that the Bulldog’s emphasis on defense helped to determine the strategy for the Cats.
“When we face a team like this, we have to be more patient,” she said. “One of the things we tell the girls is to go to the goal as fast as possible as they are coming on defense, and when we win it, we should be in front of the net or getting a shot within two or three passes. Anything longer than that, and we’re making our job much more difficult.”
Defensively, the Catamounts kept The Citadel from creating much of an offensive rhythm by attacking the Bulldog forwards before they could establish their intent. The Citadel could manage only four shots on the match, one in the first half. WCU goalkeeper Caitlin Williams only had to make one save in picking up her fifth victory of the season.
Even when The Citadel was able to tie up the match, the WCU defense did not panic, and kept their game plan in tact until the offense could regain the lead.
“We did well today,” said Coach DeCesare. “We did well enough when our backs were against the wall to come out with a win. I’m proud of the girls for the effort, and now it’s time to head to Charleston.”
As mentioned by Coach DeCesare, the Catamounts will travel down south to face the College of Charleston Thursday night. Kick off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. They will then return home for a date with Chattanooga next Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at the Catamount Athletic Complex. The Citadel hosts Charleston Southern in a non-conference affair Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.
Furman 4, Appalachian State 3
BOONE, N.C. - The Appalachian State women’s soccer team lost their second straight match on Sunday afternoon, falling to Furman 4-3 in the most exciting game of the season. Both teams traded opportunities and played imaginatively throughout. Appalachian falls to 6-3-3 on the season and 0-3 in the SoCon while Furman improves to 9-4-0 and 3-1 in the league. Junior Casey Cleary scored all three ASU goals for the natural hat trick.
“That was a game that we should have won” said head coach Ben Popoola. “Casey (Cleary) did brilliantly for us today, but some mental mistakes doomed us in the end.”
Early in the match, Appalachian struggled to keep the Paladin offense at bay. A 25th minute goal by Margaret Antonik put the ladies in purple up 1-0. The teams played the remainder of the first period almost exclusively in the Appalachian back third with Furman taking 13 shots to ASU’s three.
Down 1-0 at the intermission, the Mountaineers needed a goal to level the match. A Sara El-Shami goal in the 49th minute put the Apps down 2-0.
The Mountaineers roared back in the 51st minute as senior Jaclyn Hoffman took a quick shot which was blocked by the Furman keeper. The rebound came to Cleary who put the ball in the net to give the Mountaineers life at 2-1.
Five minutes later, Appalachian would draw even. Cleary won the ball on the far wing and took a shot to test the Furman keeper. The ball tipped off the Paladin keeper and found the net, putting the match on level terms.
Cleary continued to work her magic in the 70th minute. An Appalachian counterattack was sprung with sophomore Caroline Lowe dribbling the ball through defenders in the midfield. Lowe found Cleary open 25-yards from goal and streaking down the wing. Cleary dribbled into the box and took the shot from 12-yards to put Appalachian up 3-2.
The hat trick is the fifth in school history and the second for Cleary in her career. With the three goal performance, Cleary pushes into third place in career goals with 22 scores.
In the 75th minute, Furman drew even again at 3-3 with Katie Tucker goal. Five minutes later, the Paladins would take the lead back as Anna Betton scored her tenth goal of the season. Betton’s goal would prove to be the game-winner with Furman taking the 4-3 victory.
Sophomore Emma White suffered the loss in goal, falling to 4-2-2 on the season. White made seven saves allowing a season high, four goals.
Appalachian was out-shot in the match 22-10, with the Apps putting eight chances on target. ASU was whistled for 14 fouls while drawing 13 calls. The Mountaineers forced three corner kicks and conceded six. The one offsides in the match was called against ASU.
The Mountaineers return to action on Friday, October 12 on the road at Chattanooga. The SoCon battle kicks off at 7:00 p.m. Furman returns to action Thursday when it travels to Georgia Southern. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 3, Georgia Southern 0
GREENSBORO, NC ? Sophomore Kelly Attayek, senior captain Mary Kate Towne, and junior Heather Mitrisin each notched goal to give the UNC Greensboro Spartans a 3-0 shutout over the Georgia Southern Eagles on Sunday afternoon at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Mitrisin got the Spartans on the board at 42:04 with a solo goal off a corner kick that sailed right through the hands of GSU goalkeeper Lauren Santos. The goal was her first of the season.
Towne recorded her first goal of the season in the 51st minute. Sophomore Jen Bronson and Mitrisin played give-and-go on the right side with Mitrisin laying the feed just outside of the box. Bronson sidestepped a defender before crossing the ball directly in front of the net for Towne to punch past the keeper.
The Spartans struck again with less than 20 minutes left. Senior Karla Davis gave Attayek a left side feed from 30 yards out, Attayek dribbled into the box, and then fired from eight yards out for her fourth goal of the season.
Freshman netminder Barrie Vogel collected three saves and her second shutout. Georgia Southern’s Santos had 10 saves.
UNCG out-shot GSU 28-5 and topped the Eagles’ two corner kicks with 11 of their own.
“Georgia Southern provided an interesting challenge,” commented head coach Eddie Radwanski, “but we knew that if we were patient we would wear them down and that’s what we did.”
“The entire team came out in the second half with real determination. They never took their foot off the gas pedal...Mary Kate Towne really provided a lift. She’s a captain coming off an injury that was able to bring excitement to the field...everyone made a contribution today and we were able to show the depth of this team.”
The Spartan’s record moves to 7-3-1 over all, 4-0-0 in the Southern Conference. With the loss, the Eagles are now 2-8-1 overall, 1-2-1 in the conference.
Mary Kate Towne was named the Greg Harrison UNCG Player of the Game.
The Spartans are back on the road next Sunday as they travel to Davidson to take on the Wildcats in Southern Conference action. Georgia Southern plays host to SoCon-rival Furman Thursday at 4:00 p.m.
AGATE
UNCG..... 0... 3--- 3
GSU....... 0... 0--- 0
SCORING: UNCG - Mitrisin (1) (unassisted), 42:04; UNCG - Towne (1) (Bronson, Mitrisin), 53:42; UNCG ? Attayek (4) (Davis), 73:01. Shots: UNCG 28, GSU 5. Saves: UNCG 3 (Vogel 3), GSU 10 (Santos 10). Corner kicks: UNCG 11, GSU 2. Fouls: UNCG 9, GSU 6.
College of Charleston 2, Wofford 0
Amanda Raymond and Morgan Benz scored their first goals of the season to lift the Cougars to a 2-0 shutout over the Wofford Terriers at Patriots Point Field.
The win keeps the Cougars (6-5-1, 3-0-1) unbeaten in the Southern Conference. The Terriers fall to 5-6-1, 1-2-0 in the conference.
CofC attacked early in the first half. The game-winning goal came after midfielder Danielle Jordan took a corner kick that landed just left of the goal. Raymond headed the ball through the Wofford defense to find the back of the net from fours yards out (8:34).
Jordan and the Cougar defense held Wofford to just one shot during the first 45 minutes of play. Megan Manthey, Brittany Schneider and Raymond were responsible for CofC’s three shots for the half.
Erika Bishop fought hard at midfield for the Terriers, helping to keep the Cougars shots to just five for the game.
The final goal came in the 70th minute after a cross from Jordan. Chrissy Caruso fielded the ball and passed to Benz who scored from eight yards to the right of the net.
CofC goalie Sarah Wiggers and Wofford keeper Katie McChesney each had one save for the afternoon.
The Cougars hope to remain unbeaten in the SoCon as the host Western Carolina at 7:00 on Thursday, October 11 at Patriots Point Field in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Wofford hosts Davidson Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Davidson 4, Francis Marion 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. Sophomore Blakely Low (San Antonio, Texas) had her first career two-goal game when she struck twice in the second half and the Davidson women's soccer team improved its winning streak to seven straight after a convincing 4-0 home win over Francis Marion on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium. After starting the year 1-3, the Wildcats are now 8-3-0 and finished out their non-conference slate of games with a 5-3 mark. FMU fell to 4-5-1 on the year.
The seven straight wins are the most since the 2005 squad rattled off a 14-game unbeaten streak. Davidson also ran its home record to a perfect 4-0 mark, the first time it has won its first four home contests since the 1999 season.
Davidson's four goals gave them 20 scores during its seven-game win streak. The 'Cats have outscored their opponents, 20-3, during the seven-game stretch. Four of the wins have come by way of the shutout variety, including the last three games.
Davidson's offense was again on full display Sunday as it wasted little time in making sure they would take home yet another win with a strike just under three minutes gone by in the game.
The Francis Marion defense played a ball back to its goalie, but the goalkeeper misjudged the aggressiveness of the Wildcat attack. As Jacque Sutphin was about to clear it out of the Patriot's 18-yard box, sophomore Kyri-Bye Nagel (Hanau, Germany) raced up and blocked the clearing kick, and easily gathered in the loose ball for a near side score and a 1-0 Davidson lead.
Taylor Jenkins of the Patriots almost knotted things up about five minutes later. FMU worked the ball down the far side of the field where Jenkins received a cross in the six-yard box, turned and fired a shot on the near post. Senior Goalie Bevin English (Charleston, S.C.) though, laid fully out to swat the shot away and halt the Patriot attack. It would be the only real threat put on goal by the Patriots, despite traveling just 1-0 at halftime.
After the 15-minute break, Low and fellow sophomore Suzanne Sittko (Greenwood Village, Colo.) put the game away by scoring the final three Wildcat goals.
Sittko, after kicking in a team-best seven goals last year, got her first score of the 2007 season on a nice give-and-go between her and senior Kristen Koehrn (La Mesa, Calif.) in the 46th minute. With just over a minute gone by in the second half, Koehrn got the ball about halfway past midfield from Sittko and then sent a pass to the driving sophomore, who drove into the middle of the six-yard box with a defender on her back and left-footed a shot to the far post for Davidson's second score of the game.
Twelve minutes later, Low struck for her third goal of the season. Freshman Allison Drutchas (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) struck a ball about 26 yards out that hit the cross bar and bounced away from Sutphin and into the penalty box. From there, a charging Low won the loose ball and made one move, firing in a shot to the far post for a 3-0 Wildcat lead.
Low capped off her career afternoon at the 88:25 mark with a chip shot in the six-yard box off a cross from sophomore Katharine Laco (Bethesda, Md.), who had worked the ball to the endline and cross backed the ball to an open Low for the final score.
English came up with six saves, all in the second half when the Patriots got off seven of their nine total shots for the game in the half. The senior tri-captain ran her career shutout mark to 16, five of the coming this year.
Sutphin finished with five saves, while Emily Brandenburg relieved Sutphin late in the second half and registered one save.
Davidson had a 20-9 advantage in shots and earned five corner kicks to FMU's two.
Davidson looks to extend its winning streak and run its Southern Conference record to 4-0 when the Wildcats travel to Wofford on Friday, Oct. 12 with gametime set for 7 p.m.
Scoring Summary
2:39 DAV Kyri Bye-Nagel (5)(unassisted)
46:28 DAV Suzanne Sittko (1) (Kristen Koehrn)
58:00 DAV Blakely Low (3) (Allison Drutchas)
88:25 DAV Blakely Low (4) (Katherine Laco)