Elon 1, Wofford 0 (OT)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Elon scored near the end of the first overtime period for the game's only goal and claimed a 1-0 victory Sunday afternoon over host Wofford in Southern Conference women's soccer action at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C. It marked the eighth time in 16 games this season in which the Terriers have went to extra time, including each of their last three contests played on Sundays.
Alix Heinicke and Susannah Gianakos fed Molly Calpin for the game winner at 98:29. Calpin dribbled down the middle of the field towards the Wofford (2-9-5, 1-5-2 SoCon) net and released her attempt just inside the 18-yard box past goalkeeper Katie McChesney into the lower left side of the cage.
The Terriers, who controlled much of the action during the opening 45 minutes, had a chance to put themselves ahead when a Monica Ploetzke free kick from 20 yards out was saved by Sydney Little at 20:57.
Rachael Blackburn nearly scored for Wofford in the second half when she ripped a shot from 40 yards out, grazing the bottom of the crossbar before being saved by Little keeping Elon (7-6-2, 3-4-1 SoCon) in the game.
Eight different Phoenix players tallied shots and contributed to the visitors holding a slim, 8-6, edge in overall attempts. Blackburn paced the Terriers with two shots.
Little finished with three saves in the shutout, while McChesney registered two as both keepers played the full 98:29.
UNC Greensboro 3, Furman 2
GREENVILLE, SC ? Leigh Riordan's first goal of the season capped a three-goal second half as UNC Greensboro topped Furman, 3-2, in Southern Conference women's soccer action Sunday afternoon.
The Spartans (12-4-1, 7-0-1) scored three times in a span of 21:32 to spoil Furman's Senior Day and erase a 1-0 halftime deficit. UNCG and Furman have combined to win 10 of the last 11 Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles.
The win ran UNCG's Southern Conference regular season unbeaten streak to 28 straight matches going back to a 4-3 overtime loss at Furman on Oct. 30, 2006. UNCG and goalkeeper Kelsey Kearney saw their respective shutout streaks snapped. UNCG's ended at 560 minutes, 38 seconds, while Kearney's scoreless streak was stopped at 647 minutes, a school record and just shy of the NCAA's all-time Top 20 list.
Furman (10-6-1, 4-4-0) snapped that shutout streak at 15:11 when Martha Hall's eighth goal of the season made it a 1-0 Paladin advantage. Rachel Fry's low cross was redirected by Hall into the goal.
UNCG got on the board just 1:44 into the second half. Mary Kate Towne hit a shot from 23 yards out that Jessica Smith got a piece of, but not enough to prevent it from becoming Towne's fourth goal of the season and tying the game, 1-1.
Kristin Player gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead a little over six minutes later. Heather Deutschle played a through ball past the back line. Player won the race to the ball just inside the box and popped it into the right corner of the goal for her fifth tally of the season.
Furman, which upset the Spartans in the SoCon Tournament's title match last year, wasn't about to go away, however. Lucy Martin's header off a corner kick resulted in her third goal of the season and a 2-2 tie at 57:54.
Riordan, however, gave UNCG the lead with 21:44 to play. Lauren Lopez his a long ball into the box. Riordan then popped it home from the six-yard box to make it a 3-2 game.
The Paladins nearly tied the game with 10:30 to play, but Rachel Fry's header was knocked away by a Spartan defender to preserve the one-goal lead.
Kearney, a freshman from Durham, N.C., had three saves to earn the win. Smith also had three saves for Furman. UNCG had a 9-6 advantage in shots, but was shutout in the corner kicks department. Furman had a 6-0 advantage in corners.
Appalachian State 1, Georgia Southern 0
STATESBORO, Ga.- Appalachian State University women's soccer came away with its second conference win of the season Sunday afternoon, as the Mountaineers defeated Georgia Southern 1-0 in Statesboro, Ga. The Apps had been hungry for a win, after having lost in close matches to Furman, Elon, UNC Greensboro and tying Wofford earlier this month. With the victory ASU improves to 6-7-2 on the season and 2-5-1 in the conference, while the Eagles drop to 4-8-3 overall and 2-5-1 in the SoCon.
ASU came out strong in the first half of action, as they were able to launch nine shots compared to GSU's six, and were able to earn an impressive six corner kicks, while the Eagles did not have any. Despite, the solid play, both squads headed into the break tied a zero.
Appalachian was finally able to get on the board in the second half, when Amy Zahirski scored unassisted in the 74th minute to give the Black and Gold the 1-0 advantage.
The Mountaineers were able to hold onto their lead and defeat the Eagles 1-0.
Offensively, Caroline Lowe paced Appalachian with five shots, and three on target, while Casey Cleary, Jordan Horvath, Katy Dodd and Zahirski all had two shots on the afternoon. For the Eagles, Ashley Toussaint took five shots in the match.
In goal, Caroline Clarke played all 90 minutes and made seven saves, giving her a total of 85 saves on the season and five shots. For Georgia Southern, Lauren Santos recorded six saves.
Western Carolina 2, Davidson 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - In a match-up between two teams who were tied for second place in the Southern Conference, Kayla Beauduy scored the game-winning goal to lead Western Carolina to a 2-1 win, spoiling Davidson's Senior Day in its final home contest of the regular-season on Sunday afternoon in women's soccer action.
The Wildcats, who were looking to push their win streak to three straight and take full possession of second place, fell to 8-4-3 overall and 6-2-0 in SoCon play. They concluded their home portion of the 2008 season at 5-2-2, marking the fifth year in a row with a winning mark at Alumni Stadium.
Winners of nine of their past 11 contests, the Catamounts ran their win streak to three straight to improve to 10-6-0 overall and 7-1-0 in league play.
After both teams played even ball throughout the first half, resulting in a 1-1 tie heading into halftime, WCU pushed through in the 81st minute to break up the tie.
Davidson's defense, which has been one of the best in the league all year, missed a loose ball in the 18-yard box as two Wildcats hesitated slightly in clearing the ball, setting up Beauduy's game-winning goal. Western Carolina's Beauduy took advantage of the lapse by the Wildcat defense to gather in the ball and then drilled a shot to the near post to give her team the lead, and eventually the win.
Davidson tried to counter by pressing the Western Carolina defense, but got off only one shot in the final nine minutes.
Both squads, on the field and scoreboard, were even through the first half, before junior Suzanne Sittko broke up the shutout with her third goal of the season in the 31st minute.
Davidson drove down the field where junior Kyr Bye-Nagel passed the ball off to senior Tiffany Mumby in the box, who then struck a shot to the far post that deflected off the post right to Sittko on the near side. The junior forward then easily knocked in the wide-open goal for a 1-0 Wildcat lead.
Six minutes later, the Catamounts knotted things up at the 37:35 mark when Erin Hamilton gathered in a rebound shot in the six-yard box for a goal. Goalkeeper Christy Carry had blocked the first Catamount shot near the crossbar, but was not able to gather in the loose ball allowing Hamilton to slide a shot to the near post.
Carry earned four saves in playing all 90 minutes, while Western's Caitlin Williams finished with five saves between the posts.
Davidson had a two-shot advantage in shots, 11-9, while WCU won in the corners battle, 4-1.
College of Charleston 2, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. - Two-second half goals by senior forward Megan Manthey paced the College of Charleston's women's soccer team to a 2-0, shutout victory over Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon in Southern Conference action.
With the win, the Cougars improves to 10-4-3 overall on the year, 3-3-2 in the SoCon, while Chattanooga drops to 5-11-1 (2-6-0 in the SoCon).
In the first half, both teams were kept off the scoreboard. Charleston took six shots in the period, while Chattanooga took three.
In the second half, the Cougars got off to a quick start as Manthey scored her first goal of the day in the 53rd minute. Katie Browne was credited with an assist on the play, which was her second of the season.
The Cougars continued to attack the net throughout the remainder of the half and put the match away in the 83rd minute when Manthey scored her second goal of the day and 10th of the season off an assist from Brittany Schneider.
Statistically, the Charleston dominated the second half, as they out-shot the Lady Mocs 11-3 in the period and 17-6 in the match.
Cougar goalie Erin Smith earned her seventh shutout victory of the season after making four saves on the day for Charleston.
Samford 4, The Citadel 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University soccer team earned a 4-0 win against The Citadel Bulldogs on Sunday in a Southern Conference matchup held at Bulldog Field. The triumph was Samford’s largest margin of victory this season.
With the win, Samford (6-8-2, 5-1-2 SoCon) extended its undefeated streak at home to 13-consecutive games. The Bulldogs own a 4-0-1 record at Bulldog Field this season and have not been defeated at home since Sept. 21, 2007.
Samford’s Paige Lanter, Amber Cress, Tori Delmonico and Shannon Healy all scored goals in the victory. Defensively, the Bulldogs’ Alyssa Whitehead and Jenna Sturgill combined to record the team’s eighth shutout of the season and fifth-consecutive. Samford has not allowed a goal since Oct. 3 against Davidson.
The Bulldogs’ Whitehead started the game in goal and played the entire first half. Samford’s 6-foot-3 freshman from Hattiesburg, Miss., earned two saves in the opening 45 minutes of play, while Sturgill played the second half and also finished with a pair of saves.
Whitehead improved her record in goal to 3-2-1 this season and extended her scoreless streak to 445:53-straight minutes. She has not allowed a goal since Sept. 19 against Auburn.
The Citadel’s offensive attack was paced by sophomore Jessa Scott. The Bulldogs’ midfielder from Appleton, Wis., finished the game with five of the team’s eight shot attempts. Four of The Citadel’s eight shots were on-goal, while two of Scott’s attempts were on target.
Samford scored its quickest goal of the season Sunday as Lanter gave the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead during the third minute of play.
At exactly 2:23 into the match, Lanter one-timed a crossing pass from Leah Leppert and sent a shot past the goalkeeper into the left-hand corner of the net. Lanter received Leppert’s precise pass on the right flank of the goal and fired the shot from approximately six yards out. The score was Lanter’s first of the season.
Samford extended its lead to 3-0 by halftime as both Cress and Delmonico tacked on late first-half goals.
Cress scored during the 34th minute of play for her team-leading fourth goal of the season, while Delmonico tallied her first goal of the year at 41:43. Senior Kat Sweatt earned an assist on Cress’s score and freshman Brittany Gordon notched an assist on Delmonico’s goal.
Gordon was later credited with her second assist of the game as she helped on Healy’s goal during the 89th minute.
With only 1:33 remaining in Sunday’s match, Valerie Kikkert and Gordon each one-timed passes through a circle of The Citadel defenders to set Healy up for her second goal of the season.
Samford’s 4-0 win was its largest margin of victory since Nov. 3, 2007, when the Bulldogs picked up a similar 4-0 triumph at home against Belmont.