Georgia Southern 2, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Georgia Southern scored two goals in the second half to cap a rally and defeat host Wofford, 2-1, in the Southern Conference women's soccer opener for both schools Friday evening at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
Freshman Rachael Blackburn put the Terriers on top 1-0 early with her first career goal at 21:07. Junior Cassie Rex took a Wofford corner kick and sent it towards the six-yard box. The ball found classmate Erika Bishop's feet, who then looked to find a wide-open Blackburn. She then buried the ball high above Eagle goalkeeper Lauren Santos. It was the first time all season the Terriers had scored first and Wofford entered the break with an 11-4 shot advantage.
Georgia Southern (3-3-2, 1-0 SoCon), despite being down at the half and allowing Wofford to control much of the possession during the first period, would knot the scoring at 60:12 when Michelle Berard sent a long through ball to leading scorer Ashley Toussaint. Toussaint picked up the ball in stride from 25 yards out and raced past the Terrier defense before slipping the ball underneath goalkeeper Katie McChesney.
Both teams traded opportunities to go ahead over the next 25 minutes, but the Eagles' Toussaint was on the assisting end for the game winner at 85:06. Teammate Jenny Anderson and her had a give-and-go near the Wofford six-yard box with Anderson putting her foot on the ball last and past McChesney.
The Terriers maintained a 17-10 shot edge throughout the contest, which was played through rain the entire game. Junior Monica Ploetzke paced Wofford (1-5-3, 0-1 SoCon) with four shots, while Toussaint finished with a game-high five attempts.
Southern Conference action will continue for both programs Sunday as the Terriers will welcome Davidson to Snyder Field at 2 p.m., while Georgia Southern heads to Greenville, S.C., to face Furman also at 2 p.m.
Western Carolina 6, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Western Carolina women's soccer, behind a season-high six goals, defeated the Citadel Bulldogs, 6-0, on Friday afternoon. Five different players contributed with goals in the match, with assists going to four different players.
The Catamounts improve to 4-5 and 1-0 in the Southern Conference after the win, while the Citadel drops to 2-5-1 and 0-1 in the SoCon.
The scoring flurry started early in the match, when at just two minutes in junior midfielder Shanna Schmoker beat the Bulldogs keeper Whitney Nave to give the Catamounts an early 1-0 lead. It was Schmoker's first goal of the season, thanks to the assist from senior teamate Buki Baruwa.
Six minutes later the Catamounts were attacking again, when senior Buruwa scored pushing Western Carolina's lead to 2-0. Baruwa beat the Bulldogs keeper Nave after an assist from teammate freshman Kayla Beauduy, giving Baruwa her first goal of the year.
At the 25 minute mark of the first half, Schmoker added her second goal of the match beating Bulldogs keeper Nave for the goal, to make it 3-0 Western. Schmoker finished the contest with two goals on three shots.
Eight minutes later the club found the net again, this time junior Jenny Matteson scored her first goal of the season thanks to an assist from teammate Beauduy to give the Catamounts a 4-0 lead.
Western Carolina wasn't done, scoring a mere eighteen seconds later on a Bri Cunningham blast making the score 5-0 Catamounts. Cunningham scored for the first time this season with teammate Hilary Holder on the assist.
Western Carolina added another goal late in the match thanks to junior Kelly Estes, who scored her first goal on the season. Estes found the net beating Bulldogs keeper Emily Green on an assist from teammate Taylor Lee giving the Catamounts the 6-0 win.
Western Carolina will travel just down the road to take on the College of Charleston Cougars Sunday Sept. 28 starting at 2:00 p.m. The Citadel hosts Appalachian State Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
College of Charleston 2, Appalachian State 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. --- The College of Charleston women's soccer team opened Southern Conference play with a 2-0 victory over Appalachian State on Friday night at Patriots Point Soccer Stadium.
With the win, the Cougars move to 8-1-1 on the year, 1-0-0 in the Southern Conference, while Appalachian State falls to 4-3-1, 0-1-0 in the SoCon with the loss
"I thought that this was the best Appalachian State team that we have faced since I have been the head coach here," said head coach Kevin Dempsey. "To come out and play much better than we had in our last two matches and pick up a conference win is fantastic. We're all very pleased in how everything went tonight."
In the first half, the Cougars wasted little time to attack the net on offense and eventually broke through in the 28th minute when Katie Browne scored her first goal of the season to put Charleston up 1-0. Teammates Julie Romanik and Amanda Raymond were credited with assists on the goal.
In the second half, Appalachian State almost converted on one of their few scoring chances of the night, when Casey Clearly had a clear shot at the net. Charleston goalie Erin Smith, however, made a diving save on the play to keep the score at 1-0
The Cougars put the match out of Appalachian State's reach in the 72nd minute when Chrissy Caruso netted her first goal of the season on an assist from Megan Manthey.
At the end of the night, Charleston outshot the Mountaineers 13-4 in the match, as Appalachian State took just two shots in each period. Smith earned her fifth shutout victory in eight starts on the year and made three saves on the night.
UNC Greensboro 4, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Jen Rincon scored the first two goals of her career to lead the UNC Greensboro women’s soccer team over Chattanooga, 4-1, Friday evening in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.
The win marks the 18th straight SoCon win for the Spartans and keeps UNCG undefeated through the last 21 conference matches. UNCG (6-4-0, 1-0-0) has not dropped a conference match since October 30, 2005 when it lost to Furman, 4-3 in double-overtime.
Kelly Attayek led all players with five shots while Jenn Partenheimer and Rincon registered four apiece. While Rincon was busy finding the back of the net, Attayek was busy dishing out assists. The junior handed out two assists on the night, upping her season total to a team-high five on the year. As a team the Spartans out-shot Chattanooga (3-6-1, 0-1-0) 20-5 on the evening, marking their highest shot total of the season thus far. UNCG also held the advantage on corner kicks, offering up eight to just two for the Lady Mocs.
Senior Mary Kate Towne got the Spartans on the board early in the first half, netting her third goal of the year in the sixth minute of play off an assist from Attayek.
Rincon scored the first of her two goals, the eventual game-winner, in the 23rd minute of action after taking a pass from Leigh Riordon and beating the Chattanooga defense, finding the back of the net from nine yards out.
Rincon would later pad the lead for the Spartans, netting her second goal of the game off an assist from freshman Nicole Danford in the 38th minute.
UNCG would later go up 4-0 as Danford found the back of the net for her team-leading fifth goal of the season during the 60th minute of play.
Attayek picked up her second assist of the evening and fifth of the year on the Spartans’ only goal of the second half.
The Lady Mocs were unable to mount much of an attack until the 86th minute when Chelsea Hurst connected on a corner kick from Marlee Jenkins to give Chattanooga their only goal of the game.
Freshman Kelsey Kearney lowered her goals against average to 1.13 after shutting out Chattanooga for 72:03 minutes. Kearney was spelled by sophomore Barrie Vogel for the final 17:57 after registering two saves, lifting her season total to a team-leading 25 saves.
Samford 3, Elon 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- In Samford University’s inaugural matchup in Southern Conference play, the Bulldog soccer team rallied for a 3-0 win against the Elon Phoenix at Bulldog Field. Samford’s Sarah Wilkinson, Amber Cress and Mary Shelton Bryant all scored goals in the victory.
With the win, Samford (2-7, 1-0 SoCon) opened conference play with a shutout victory and snapped a four-match losing streak. The Bulldogs’ Wilkinson scored the game-winning goal during the 41st minute of play.
On the scoring play, Samford’s Cress initiated the attack as the she gathered possession on the far left side of the field. Along the sideline, the Bulldogs’ speedy junior forward shook past a pair of Phoenix defenders and then outran another Elon player to turn the far corner.
Once Cress neared the end-line, she sprinted towards the goal and then found Wilkinson wide open in front of the net. Wilkinson gathered the easy pass from Cress and slammed the ball home.
Samford’s Cress and Bryant both added their first goals of the 2008 campaign in the second half.
Cress’s score occurred during the 49th minute of play and was assisted by both Wilkinson and Kat Sweatt. Bryant’s first goal of the season gave Samford its 3-0 lead and was assisted by Caroline Baxter and Brittany Gordon.
The Bulldogs’ Cayley Winters and Alyssa Whitehead combined for the shutout victory in goal. Winters started the match and played the opening 84:33 of the contest. With the win, she improved to 2-5 in goal this season.
With Friday’s loss, Elon (4-3-1, 0-1 SoCon) had its three-game winning streak snapped in its first conference game of the season. The defeat was the Phoenix’s first since a 6-0 setback against Old Dominion on Sept. 7.
Elon was led offensively by sophomore Brittany Hallberg. The Phoenix’s explosive forward from Richmond, Va., paced the team with two shot attempts, both of which were on-goal.