UNC Greensboro 6, George Mason 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? The UNC Greensboro women’s soccer team exploded for a season high six goals to defeat George Mason University 6-3, Friday evening in front of 383 fans at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. Freshman Nicole Danford scored two goals to lead the Spartans.
The win moves the Spartans’ record to 2-1-0 on the young season, while George Mason drops to 0-2-0.
George Mason took an early lead in the 14th minute when Kelly Keelan turned from 30 yards out and caught UNCG goalkeeper Alex Perry off her line, sending the shot into the upper right corner.
Jamie Corti struck back for her second goal of the season and third of her career, connecting on a Kristin Player corner kick to pull the Spartans even at one all. It was the second goal in three games for Corti, and second in this fashion. Player picked up her second assist on the year as she and Corti lead the Spartans with four points apiece this season.
The Patriots picked up their second goal of the game just three minutes later when Theresa DeLucca connected on a rebound that came off the post and sent her shot into the lower left corner past Perry who was unable to recover.
UNCG came out firing in the second half. The Spartans, who sent a total of
24 shots, 19 of which were on goal, took 15 in the second half alone.
Katelynn Donovan opened the scoring early, sending an unassisted goal into the lower right corner off an attempted clear. Jenn Partenheimer followed seven minutes later with her first goal of the season, collecting the ball off a defender and sending her shot into the upper left corner.
Kelly Attayek collected a rebound off a Jennifer Bronson shot to notch her second goal of the season in the 62nd minute. Danford then netted the first collegiate goal of her career, sending the ball into the lower right corner from inside the six yard box.
George Mason would have only one answer for the Spartans’ offensive outburst as Keelen Collected a pass from Annie Lebherz for her second goal of the game, putting the ball past a diving Barrie Vogel and into the lower left corner.
Danford would respond for her second goal of the game, taking a pass from fellow freshman Jaimey Etten and sliding the ball into the lower right corner.
UNCG led the Patriots in all aspects of the game, taking a 24-11 advantage on shots as well as benefiting from a 7-0 lead in corner kicks.
The Spartans will take to the road for a five week road swing, beginning with a 6 pm match up with Duke on Sunday evening in Durham. Live stats can be found at www.goduke.com.
Furman 2, Coastal Carolina 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Freshmen Rachel Shelnutt and Alexa Jones each netted their first collegiate goal to lift Furman over Coastal Carolina 2-0 in the Paladins’ season opener Friday evening at the Select Kickoff Classic at Stone Stadium.
Shelnutt slid onto the end of a Kate Myatt cross at the far post in the 36th minute to poke a shot into the left corner and open the scoring.
Jones added a late insurance goal just 1:56 from full time as Sara El-Shami fed Lucy Martin down the left side and the Peachtree City, Ga., product slotted a pass across the face of goal for Jones to fire into the net.
“The hard work this team put in during the preseason definitely paid dividends tonight,” said Paladin head coach Andrew Burr. “We got a great effort out of freshmen like Rachel Shelnutt and Katya Gokhman who proved they were ready to make an immediate impact. Briana da Mota was also solid in goal.”
Furman (1-0-0) held a commanding 14-2 edge in shots in did not allow the Chanticleers (0-3-0) to piece together a serious threat on goal over the final 45 minutes. Dam Mota notched two saves to claim the victory while Amy Haggard made three stops for Coastal Carolina.
In game one of the tournament, Canisius exploded for four first half goals on its way to a 5-1 victory over Wofford (0-2-1). Sylvia Kowalski tallied two goals, including the game winner in the fourth minute, to boost the Golden Griffin attack. Kelly Reinwald added a goal and two assists as Canisius improved to 1-0-0.
The Select Kickoff Classic continues Sunday with Furman hosting Canisius at noon and Wofford battling Coastal Carolina at 2:30 p.m.
Georgia Southern 1, Northern Iowa 0 (OT)
DeKALB, Ill. ? The Georgia Southern Women’s Soccer team improved to 2-0 with a win against Northern Iowa (0-1).
Preseason All-SoCon member, Ashley Toussaint (Warner Robins, Ga.), scored the game winning goal in overtime off a pass from Niki Lepper (Carmel, Ind.) to give the Eagles a 1-0 win.
The Eagles struck first, when Jenny Anderson (Birmingham, Ala.) scored off a pass from Ashley Toussaint.
"We started out well. Jenny scored a great goal. We didn't finish the half well, but I was proud of how we came out of the half," said Coach Hart.
Toussaint finished the game with eight shots, a goal and an assist.
"Ashley plaid well and I was proud of how she finished the game," said Coach Hart.
The Eagles took 22 shots on the day. Anderson and Lepper both took four shots.
"Everyone came in and contributed. Our midfielders and forwards found opporunties for us," said Coach Hart.
Lauren Santos (Berwyn, Ill.) played the whole game in the cage for the Eagles and recorded nine saves.
The Eagles will face the host of the NIU Tournament, Northern Illinois Sunday at 11 am.
College of Charleston 1, USC-Upstate 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- A late second half goal by Megan Manthey lifted The College of Charleston’s women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over USC-Upstate on Friday night.
With the win, the College of Charleston moves to 3-0-0 on the year, while USC-Upstate falls to 1-1-0.
In the first half, the Cougars failed to get on the scoreboard, despite the fact they out shot USC-Upstate 12-2 in the period. USC-Upstate goalie Brittany Daughtry preserved the shutout by making four saves.
In the second half, Charleston continued to attack the net, only to have Daughtry stop almost every shot. Finally, with 8:03 left in the period, Manthey took a pass from Hope Atkinson and fired her fifth shot of the night, which proved to be a charm, as she scored her first goal of the season.
Goalie Erin Smith earned her second shutout win of the year and made three saves for Charleston.
At the end of the night, the Cougars dominated in shots (21-4) and corner kicks (9-0). The Cougar defensive unit also continued their dominance, as they have allowed just 17 shots through the first three contests of the year.
The Cougars will return to action on Tuesday, September 2nd when they take on Presbyterian at Patriots Point. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. USC-Upstate will host High Point in their next contest on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Davidson 1, High Point 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. Junior Kyri Bye-Nagel (Hanau, Germany) scored her second straight goal in as many games with a strike in the second half and the Wildcat defense made good on the single goal by picking up their first shutout of the year as Davidson scored a 1-0 victory over host Mercer at the LQ Cup on Friday evening.
Davidson moved to 2-0 for the first time since the start of the 2000 season, while the Bears dropped to 0-2. The win was the Wildcats second straight against the Bears after they defeated MU, 3-1, at Alumni Stadium last season.
?It was a very hard fought game that we won and I'm proud of the team in battling through a night where we were fighting for every possession,? said head coach Greg Ashton. ?We maintained our focus and got a great goal from Kyri there in the second half, and then buckled down on defense and shut down their attack.?
After both teams played a scoreless first half, Bye-Nagel gave Davidson the only goal it would need in the 53rd minute of the second half thanks to some solid ball movement from her teams. Starting at the mid-center field line, a penetrating pass was forwarded toward sophomore Callan Elswick (Locust Grove, Va.), who then put a move on her defender and ran the ball to a streaking junior Suzanne Sittko (Greenwood Village, Colo.) along the sideline. Sittko gathered the ball in stride and dribbled it toward the end line in the far left-hand corner. She then hit a left-footed cross into the six-yard box, where Bye-Nagel raised above the defense and headed in her second goal of the season, and 14th of her Wildcat career.
The junior forward, who was picked preseason All-Southern Conference, has scored nine goals in the past eight games dating back to the end of last season. The game-winner was Bye-Nagel's fourth of her career.
Freshman Christy Carry (Dallas, Texas), making her second career start in goal, and the defense made the 1-0 score hold up by halting an aggressive Mercer attack. A pair of late dead-ball opportunities would provide Mercer with a chance to score as Jenny Niemeier and Heather Manting both lifted free kicks into a crowded 16-yard box, but no Bears could get on the end of the free kicks, and Davidson manage to run out the clock for the win.
Davidson had a six-shot advantage (10-4) in the game and earned three corner kicks to Mercer's two.
Davidson finishes up the LQ Cup with a 12:30 p.m. contest against Kennesaw State on Sunday. The Owls were victorious in their first game of the tournament against Jackson State by the score of 3-1. Davidson has never faced Kennesaw State.
Chattanooga 0, High Point 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women’s soccer team battled visiting High Point to a scoreless overtime tie at the North River Soccer Complex Friday night.
The Panthers edged the Lady Mocs 9-8 on shots with four on goal to Chattanooga’s one. Katharina Rheinheimer (Lindberg, Germany) , playing in her first game for UTC, led all players with three shots including the Lady Mocs’ long shot on goal. Caroline DeRhodes (Waxhaw, N.C.) and D.K. Henry (Queens Village, N.Y.) each managed two shots each for UTC while Laura Shupe (Cary, N.C.) had a pair for High Point.
High Point outshot the Lady Mocs 4-1 in the first period, but the Lady Mocs came on strong in the second to outshoot HPU 5-4 but regulation would end without a score from either team. In the first overtime both teams managed to get just one shot close enough to the goal and the Lady Mocs came away with the lone shot in overtime.
Chattanooga’s freshman keeper Allie Preston (Asheville, N.C.) notched her first shutout of her collegiate career and recorded four saves. High Point had six corner kick opportunities to Chattanooga’s two.
The Lady Mocs, still seeking their first win of the year, move to 0-1-1 on the season while the Panthers are 0-1-2 on the season.
Chattanooga will host Eastern Kentucky Sunday afternoon at the North River Soccer Complex. The game is slated to start at 1 p.m.
NC State 5, Elon 1
RALEIGH, N.C. ? North Carolina State All-ACC forward Lindsay Vera struck for three goals Friday night as the Wolfpack defeated the visiting Elon Phoenix in non-conference women’s soccer action at NC State Soccer Stadium. The victory improved NC State to 3-0-0 while Elon dropped its season opener and is 0-1-0.
Vera wasted no time in finding the back of the net in the 10th minute when she corralled a pass at midfield,weaved through the Elon defense and blasted a shot from 19 yards out.
Just over three minutes later Vera lofted a deft shot into the upper left-corner from 15 yards out.
Fellow forward Kara Baldy got into the mix in the 16th minute when she drove home a rebound just in front of the Phoenix goal line. Keeper Lizz Johnson blocked the initial shot by Nadia Aboulhosn, but it went right to the boot of Baldy and she had her second marker of the young season.
Vera capped her night in the 25th minute when she deflected in a direct kick from Gia Cipollini that basically setup as a corner kick for a 4-0 NC State advantage.
It marked the second time in Vera’s career that she has scored three goals in a game. The senior captain turned the trick in the 2007 season opener against Davidson.
Elon erased the shutout by getting on the board in the 71st minute on a nice goal from Kerri Speers. She one touched a pass from Katina Boozer past NC State keeper Rachel Barnette for the first goal allowed by the Wolfpack all season.
Aboulhosn wrapped up the scoring just over two minutes later when she got loose from the Elon defense and scored on second half keeper Sydney Little.
NC State out shot Elon, 19-5, while holding a 10-3 lead in corner kicks.
For Elon, Johnson recorded three saves in her 45 minutes of work while Little stopped five shots in the final 45 minutes.
Barnette denied two shots on the night.
The Phoenix returns to action in a 6 p.m. contest on Sunday night at Maryland.
Canisius 5, Wofford 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Wofford surrendered two quick goals and could not recover as it dropped a 5-1 decision to Canisius in women's soccer action Friday at the Select Kick-Off Classic in Greenville, S.C. The two-day tournament is being hosted by fellow Southern Conference member Furman.
After the Golden Griffins' mounted a four-score advantage at halftime, freshman Maggie O'Brien netted her first collegiate goal at 47:09 following a long run through the midfield. She fired a low shot from 10 yards out to beat Canisius (1-0) goalkeeper Caroline Robert for the unassisted goal.
However, the Golden Griffins used two quick scores within the first five minutes of the game and another pair before the half to put the game out of reach. Rebecca Shupe got the scoring started with a deflection off a corner kick from Maggie Martini at 2:25.
Kelly Reinwald then found Sylvia Kowalski on a crossing pass from the right flank a minute and a half later as Canisius built its lead to 2-0 at the 3:53 mark.
Reinwald added a tally of her own at 35:07 when Kate Sloane fed her a centering pass and she slid it past Wofford (0-2-1) goalkeeper Katie McChesney from five yards away.
The final Golden Griffins' score of the opening 45 minutes came at 42:53 when Tracy Lynk sent a long ball to Jenny Griffin, who then beat McChesney one-on-one for a 4-1 lead at the break.
Kowalski added her second goal of the contest at 61:55 as Reinwald collected another assist on a centering pass.
McChesney finished with eight saves, while Robert stopped three Terrier attempts.
Both teams will return to action with their second matches of the tournament Sunday. Wofford will face Coastal Carolina at 2:30 p.m.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee 4, Samford 2
MILWAUKEE, Wis. --- The Samford University soccer team began play in the 2008 Milwaukee Cup on Friday and dropped a 4-2 decision against the regionally-ranked Milwaukee Panthers at Engelmann Field. In the loss, Samford (0-2) received goals from junior Cindy Spiker and freshman Sarah Wilkinson.
Milwaukee (3-0), the sixth-ranked team in the Soccer Buzz Great Lakes Region, remained undefeated in the 2008 Milwaukee Cup on Friday behind a two-goal performance from Sarah Hagen. Earlier this week, Milwaukee picked up victories against Wisconsin 3-0 and Ohio State 4-3.
Hagen, the Panthers’ highly-touted freshman midfielder, scored Milwaukee’s first two goals of the game and improved her team-high total to five this season. The Panthers’ third goal was scored by junior Kate Megna, while the final tally was netted on a Samford own goal.
With the loss, Samford dropped to 0-2 on the season for the first time since 2004 when the Bulldogs opened the campaign with losses to Southern Miss and Tulane. Samford later went on to win the 2004 Ohio Valley Conference championship and finish the season with an impressive 7-1 league record.
The Bulldogs scored their first goal of Friday’s match during the ninth minute of play. The penalty-kick score tied the game at 1-1 and was Spiker’s first of the season.
Samford’s second goal of the match was scored by Wilkinson and trimmed Milwaukee’s deficit to 3-2 during the 86th minute of play. The goal was the first of Wilkinson’s collegiate career. On the play, she dribbled through a pair of Panther defenders and then neatly chipped the ball over the goalkeeper’s head from eight yards out.
The Bulldogs’ true freshman Alyssa Whitehead made her second career start in goal and finished the non-conference matchup with five saves.
The Samford University soccer team will continue its play in the 2008 Milwaukee Cup on Sunday as the Bulldogs square off against the Marquette Golden Eagles at 12:30 p.m.