Furman 4, Elon 3
ELON, N.C. -- Elon's Katina Boozer blasted home her third and fourth goals of the season and assisted on another Phoenix tally, but it was not enough as the visiting Furman Lady Paladins broke open a 1-1 halftime game with three second half goals to pick up a 4-3 Southern Conference women's soccer victory.
Furman (8-3-0, 2-0-0 SoCon) got the scoring started just 50 seconds into the contest when Katie Tucker headed in a cross from Gena Villari for her fourth goal of the year.
Elon (2-7-1, 0-2-0) evened the score at the 15:49 mark when Boozer struck with her first score. The junior stole the ball from a Furman defender just outside the box and launched a long-range shot that went over the leaping Briana da Mota for the score.
In roughly seven and a half minutes in the second period, the Lady Paladins pulled away. Anna Betton put Furman ahead for good at 61:24 when she collected a rebound off of Elon keeper Lizz Johnson and scored for the ninth time this year. At 63:02 the Furman advantage was stretched to 3-1 when Tucker found the back of the net for her fifth score of the season and second on the afternoon. Villari assisted again as she crossed the ball that could not be punched away by Johnson to Tucker's feet. The final Lady Paladin marker came when Villari scorched a free kick from just outside the box over the wall and past Johnson at 68:33. It was Villari's first tally of 2007.
The Phoenix made things interesting in the last five minutes of play. With just 4:45 left in the contest, Brittany Hallberg pulled Elon within two. The play developed as Boozer played a ball down the middle of the field to Molly Calpin. Calpin then fed Hallberg for her second score of the campaign.
With just 3.5 seconds showing on the clock, Boozer struck from long range again. She moved into position and took the shot from 25 yards out, beating da Mota again for the final marker of the contest.
Johnson finished the day with five saves while da Mota stopped two shots.
The Phoenix got off 12 total shots to 18 for the Lady Paladins. Furman also held the edge in shots on goal (10-5) and corner kicks (6-3).
Up next for Elon is a home date with Chattanooga on Sunday, October 7 at 2:00 p.m. That game will be played in Rhodes Stadium. Furman will host Davidson on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
Georgia Southern 2, Chattanooga 2 (2OT)
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Playing its second game in double-overtime, the Georgia Southern women’s soccer team rallied from a 2-0, second-half deficit to tie up the match versus Chattanooga, Sunday afternoon, at Eagle Field, which ended in a 2-2 stalemate.
Chattanooga (0-5-2, 0-0-1) got up on the scoreboard first in the 33rd minute when Marlee Jenkins passed to teammate Sara Francescon on the left side. Francescon unloaded a shot from 10 yards out to go up 1-0.
In the second half, a Georgia Southern (2-6-1, 1-0-1) foul inside the box awarded Chattanooga a penalty shot in the 52nd minute. Lady Moc Chelsea Hurst found the back of the net to extend the Chattanooga lead to 2-0.
As evidenced by a 12-2 shot advantage in the second stanza, Georgia Southern turned things around offensively. In the 66th minute, the Eagles pushed the ball up into the box, and after the ball bounced around, Michelle Berard (Kennesaw, Ga.) one-touched the loose ball into the back of the net for GSU’s first goal, closing the gap to a 2-1 Chattanooga lead.
“We just realized we needed to step up as a team,” said head coach Ashley Hart. “We were playing on panic-mode for a while there. We talked about settling down the ball, being composed, knocking the ball around and playing better as a team.”
While the GSU defense held Chattanooga to zero shots on goal in the second half, the GSU offense continued to attack. In the 78th minute, Katie Gosnell (Charleston, S.C.) lobbed a long pass over top to teammate Ashley Toussaint (Warner Robins, Ga.). Toussaint connected with the header-shot into the left side of the goal, tying up the match, 2-2.
Though the Eagles produced seven more shots in the subsequent overtime periods, Chattanooga managed to avert the come-from-behind rally and hold on for the 2-2 stalemate.
Georgia Southern held a decided advantage over the Lady Mocs in shots (24-5) and corner kicks (7-2).
Goalkeeper Lauren Santos (Berwyn, Ill.) made one save on the day, while Chattanooga’s Milla Junni stopped eight GSU shots.
The Eagles will hit the road to face Southern Conference opponent Charleston, Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at Patriots Point.
Appalachian State 0, College of Charleston 0 (2OT)
BOONE, NC - On a cool, clear, chamber of commerce Sunday afternoon, the Appalachian State women’s soccer team returned home after three consecutive road matches. Unfortunately it wasn’t a joyous homecoming as ASU battled College of Charleston to a scoreless draw.
ASU, winless in their last two fall to 5-1-3 on the year, while the Cougars, unbeaten in their last two matches, are now 3-4-1 on the campaign.
“Our forwards didn’t play well today,” said a disappointed head coach Ben Popoola. “Our defense and midfielders were solid, but we couldn’t get on the end of anything. When your forwards don’t work hard, it is very hard to score.”
Appalachian had problems penetrating the Cougar defense, only taking eight shots with three on frame. The tide looked to turn in the 38th minute when a College of Charleston player was shown the red card, but the Moutaineers could not capitalize on the advantage.
Working hard in net for ASU was sophomore Emma White who earned her fourth shutout of the season by making three saves and keeping the net free from goals. White is now 4-1-2 on the season.
The Mountaineers were whistled for 22 fouls while only drawing 12 infractions. Both teams took five corner kicks. ASU was caught offsides twice, while only catching the Cougars off once.
ASU will now travel to Orangeburg, S.C. to face South Carolina State on Wednesday, October 3. The non-conference matchup kicks off at 3:00 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 2, Western Carolina 0
The UNC Greensboro women’s soccer team defeated Western Carolina, 2-0 Sunday afternoon in Cullowhee, N.C.
UNCG (4-3-1, 1-0-0 Southern Conference) started off the scoring at the 29:22 mark when midfielder Katelynn Donovan sliced through the Catamount defense and slipped a low shot past WCU goalkeeper Caitlin Williams and into the bottom left corner of the goal. With five minutes to go in the match, UNCG struck again on Kristin Player’s shot that found the back of the net.
The Cats were unable to find anything positive offensively against a very stout UNCG defense that held strong the entire match. Western was not devoid of some quality chances on goal, but could not break through and put any goals on the board. For the entirety of the match, it seemed that the breaks that can swing the momentum of a match were just out of reach for WCU.
“Our girls battled today,” WCU Coach Tammy DeCesare said. “The effort was there, the ideas were there, and it was just a matter of executing. It just seemed that the ball was not bouncing our way today.”
UNC Greensboro was able to out shoot the Catamounts 12-8, with four corner kicks to Western’s one. The game had a noticeable physical nature throughout, with a total of 27 fouls called, two yellow cards given out, and many more instances that although they did not show up on the stat sheet, characterized the attitude of the match.
“It’s not easy to come up here and get the win,” commented UNCG head coach Eddie Radwaski, “The girls really rallied together, defended well, and didn’t give Western Carolina many scoring opportunities.
“We played well in the first half and I wish we could have gotten another goal to make things a bit easier, but all-in-all the win really finished off a good weekend.”
The loss drops the Catamounts to 5-6-0 overall and 0-2-0 in Southern Conference play. They will look to pick up their first conference win of the season this Friday night at home against Appalachian State. WCU will look to extend their winning streak over the Mountaineers to three games, and go up in the all-time series between the to fierce rivals 7-2. Kick off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
Davidson 5, The Citadel 0
Charleston, S.C.- After a close first half, the Davidson Wildcats pull away from The Citadel Bulldogs and end the game 5-0.
The match was tied 0-0 until five minutes remaining in the first half, when Lauren Conner connected with a loose ball in the six yard line to put the Wildcats on the board. The goal was Conner’s team leading fifth of the season.
The Wildcats came out with an offensive fury that the Bulldogs battled to fight off. In the 52nd minute of play, Nancy Haskell found the head of Amanda Flink who headed in the corner kick. The Wildcats enjoyed nine corner kicks during the contest to the Bulldogs zero.
The offensive strike continued when Sophie Funderburk found herself alone outside the 25 yard line and ripped a shot into the upper 90 of the goal past Bulldog goalkeeper Britni Bunnell. Callan Elswick then scored her first career goal after rebounding her own deflected shot and placing it past Bunnell. In the 82nd minute, Kate McCormick ended the score by shooting a ball outside the 18-yard line that then hit the inside corner of the crossbar and dropped into the goal.
“I think our back four and Britni did a good job defending a very good Davidson team,” said head coach Bob Winch. “But we have to be able to posses the ball for longer so that we can rest and regroup defensively.”
Davidson out-shot The Citadel 25-1, with the Bulldogs loan shot coming from Nicole Martinoli. Bunnell made 11 saves on the afternoon.
The Wildcats improve to 6-3-0, 2-0, while the Bulldogs fall to 3-7-0, 0-2.
The Citadel will look to earn their first conference win when they travel to Wofford on October 5 for a 6 pm kick-off.
Scoring Summary
39:41 DAV Lauren Conner (5) (Low)
53:07 DAV Amanda Flink (2) (Haskell)
74:26 DAV Sophie Funderburk (1) (unasisted)
77:05 DAV Callan Elswick (1) (Drutchas)
82:15 DAV Kate McCormick (1) (unassisted)
High Point 4, Wofford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Two goals in the second half were not enough for host Wofford as it attempted to rally before High Point held on for a 4-2 victory in women's soccer action Sunday afternoon at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C. The game marked the final non-conference match of the season for the Terriers.
Sara Rager put the Panthers on the board first and last with her two goals. She began the scoring at 38:12 as she put her head on the ball on a Karolina Straby corner kick. Her other tally came at 78:31 when she volleyed the ball to herself past a Wofford (4-5-1) defender while standing directly in front of the goal.
Other High Point (4-3-2) scores came at 48:21 when Megan Fielden sent a free kick from 45 yards out through the hands of Terrier goalkeeper Katie McChesney and at 58:47 when Beckie Lesh redirected a pass via Jen Evans inside the six-yard box.
Senior Natalie Ferrara netted the Terriers' first goal of the game at 69:51. Sophomore Monica Ploetzke served a free kick directly to Panther goalie Marisa Abbott, which was saved but not controlled, and Ferrara put in the rebound for her second goal of the season.
Ploetzke was also a factor in the hosts' other score, as she fed senior Whitney Steelman, who then found a streaking Aubrey Thomson down the left flank. Thomson beat the defense and lifted her shot over Abbott's outstretched hands for her second career goal at 73:36.
Ferrara led Wofford with three shots, while a trio of High Point players (Evans, Lesh and Rager) each also registered three shots.
The Terriers will return to Southern Conference action with they host The Citadel at 6 p.m. Friday in the finale of a three-game homestand.