Davidson 1, Wofford 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford women's soccer team played a better second half than the first but could not overcome a first period goal by Davidson in dropping a 1-0 Southern Conference women's soccer decision Sunday afternoon at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
The visiting Wildcats controlled much of the possession and attack during the opening 45 minutes, carrying a 7-0 shot advantage into the half. Despite Davidson (4-2-3, 2-0 SoCon) having the edge, the Terrier defense kept it off the board until just over two-thirds of the stanza had elapsed.
The Wildcats tallied the game's only goal at 31:10 when Katharine Laco, standing near the left end line, crossed the ball to Tracy McCausland. McCausland was standing wide open at the near post and put home the point-blank attempt inside the left post.
Wofford (1-6-3, 0-2 SoCon) would come out of the intermission with renewed energy. Junior Cassie Rex nearly tied the score but her shot deflected off the crossbar three-and-a-half minutes into the second session. The Terriers had other looks at the net, including a Monica Ploetzke shot which was saved by Jessie Baxa with 10 minutes to play.
Baxa collected two saves in the shutout, while Laco and Blakely Low paced Davidson with two shots apiece. Ploetzke matched their total to lead Wofford, who held a 5-4 shot advantage during the second half.
The Terriers will return to action at Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C., at 7 p.m. Friday.
Appalachian State 3, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Appalachian State University women's soccer got back to their winning ways Sunday afternoon, as the Mountaineers downed The Citadel 3-1 at Washington Light Infantry field. With the win, the Apps improve to 5-3-1 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon, while the Bulldogs drop to 2-6-1 and 0-2 in conference play.
Appalachian dominated the first half of play, as they were able to score two goals to take an early 2-0 lead. Junior Caroline Lowe tallied the first goal for the Mountaineers, her third of the season, scoring unassisted to give ASU the 1-0 advantage in the 29th minute. Just four minutes later, the Black and Gold got on the board again, as freshman Amber Hillscored her first career goal off an assist from Amy Zahirski and Lowe.
Despite the 2-0 lead, the Bulldogs would not go away quietly, as Nikkita Persaud scored in the 38th minute unassisted.
ASU was able to hold on to their one goal advantage and take the 2-1 lead into the break.
In the second half, the score remained the same until senior Casey Cleary notched her second goal of the season, and 27th in her career, scoring off an assist from Lindsey Jaffe. Cleary's goal gave the Apps the 3-1 lead, and capped the scoring.
All told, Appalachian dominated the match, outshooting The Citadel 18-10 overall and earning six corner kicks compared to The Citadel's five.
Furman 4, Georgia Southern 3 (OT)
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Alexa Jones scored less than five minutes into overtime to give Furman a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Georgia Southern in Southern Conference women’s soccer action Sunday afternoon at Stone Soccer Stadium.
The win improves Furman to 7-3-1 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon. Georgia Southern drops to 3-4-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.
Sara El-Shami served a pass to Martha Hall in the left side of the box and Hall centered a pass to Jones who beat Georgia Southern keeper Lauren Santos to the right hand side at 94:13 to secure Furman’s first SoCon victory of the season. The goal was the fourth for Jones and her second game-winning tally of the season.
Furman jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes of the second half on goals from senior Rachel Fry and Hall. Similar to the game-winning tally, El-Shami delivered a free kick into the box to Hall who picked out Fry inside the six-yard box for the easy tap-in at 50-35. At 53:42, Fry returned the favor sending a through ball to Hall who laced a shot past Santos from 12 yards to double the Paladin lead.
Danae Kaimuloa cut the lead in half just after the 58 minute mark when Ashley Toussaint drew Paladin keeper Jessica Smith off her line on a two-on-one break and fed Kaimuloa for the shot into the open net.
Toussaint tied the match in the 67th minute with her league-leading seventh goal of the season. Niki Lepper played a through ball to trigger Toussaint on a one-versus-one with the keeper and the senior lined a shot into the left side to even the match at 2-2.
Georgia Southern continued the offensive onslaught at 69:32 as Kaimuloa settled a Caroline Rutledge free kick, spun and fired past Smith for her second goal of the half to give the Eagles a 3-2 advantage.
The Paladins pushed extra players into the attack and in the 86th minute found the equalizer on Lucy Martin’s second goal of the season. Fry took the ball at the top of the box and played it wide to Martin who hammered a 23-yard shot into the far side netting at 85:05 to force overtime and set up Jones’ eventual winner.
Furman held a 12-7 edge in shot attempts and 4-0 advantage in corner kicks. Smith made one save in earning the victory for Furman while Santos stopped four shots four the Eagles.
Western Carolina 1, College of Charleston 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. --- The College of Charleston women's soccer team fell to Western Carolina on Sunday afternoon, 1-0, in Southern Conference action at Patriots Point Soccer Stadium.
With the loss, the Cougars fall to 8-2-1 on the year, 1-1 in the SoCon, while Western Carolina improves to 5-5-0 (2-0 in the SoCon).
In the first half, the Cougars came out and attacked the net, and outshot Western Carolina in the period 6-2. Catamount goalie Caitlin Williams, however, made five saves in the period, as the game went into halftime in a scoreless tie.
In the second half, Western Carolina broke through with a goal in the 66th minute by Kayla Beauduy off an assist from Nikki Collins. The Cougars, however continued to attack on offense, only to have Williams stop every attempt Charleston had on the goal.
The two best chances Charleston had to score in the period came within minutes of each other. In the 74th minute, Katie Browne had a break-a-way and a clear shot. Williams, however, made a diving save on the shot to keep the Cougars off the scoreboard. In the 77th minute, Megan Manthey had a clear shot and had that blocked by Williams, who made another diving stop.
Western Carolina then hung on over the final ten minutes of the contest to pull out the 1-0 victory, as the Cougars never had another serious threat on goal the rest of the match.
At the end of the match, Williams made nine saves on the 14 shots she faced from the Cougars. Manthey took the most shots on the day for Charleston with six (four of which were on goal).
Chattanooga 2, Elon 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women’s soccer team held on to claim its first Southern Conference win of the season, defeating Elon 2-1 at the North River Soccer Complex.
The first score for the Lady Mocs came on an Elon own goal. Freshman Susanne Mader sent a corner kick into the fray for the Lady Mocs and it glanced off a defender and hit the bottom of the cross bar and landed just past the goal line to put UTC up 1-0 just before the half.
Chattanooga would net a second goal early in the second period. Freshman D.K. Henry took a pass from Katharina Rheinheimer up the middle and beat the defenders to go one-on-one with the Phoenix keeper Sydney Little at the 46:48 mark.
Several great saves were made by the Lady Mocs’ freshman keeper Allie Preston as she had seven for the game.
The Phoenix had several scoring opportunities throughout the latter part of the second half and failed to convert as Chattanooga’s defense thwarted the offensive effort.
The Lady Mocs improve to 4-6-1 on the year and 1-1 in league action while the Phoenix even out at 4-4-1 and fall to 0-2 in SoCon play. Chattanooga will be on the road to Georgia Southern Friday, Oct. 3 for a 7 p.m. match. Elon will host the College of Charleston in a 7 p.m. matchup on Friday as well.
Samford 0, UNC Greensboro 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? The UNC Greensboro women’s soccer team remained perfect in Southern Conference play over its last 22 matches as the Spartans battled SoCon newcomer Samford University to a 0-0 tie on Sunday afternoon in Birmingham.
The Spartans and Bulldogs battled for 110:00 total minutes, but neither team was able to find the back of the net. For UNCG, the tie breaks an 18-game win streak in conference play, but keeps the Spartans undefeated through 22 matches. The Spartans’ last tie in SoCon action came on October 1, 2006 when UNCG and Western Carolina tied 1-1.
Samford outshot UNCG by a total of 18-12. The Spartans, who managed only two shots through the first 45 minutes of play, came out of the locker room in the second half to hold the advantage, 6-5, in the second half. UNCG was led by Kelly Attayek, Nicole Danford and Jenn Partenheimer who finished with two shots apiece, while six others registered one shot. Partenheimer leads the Spartans on the year with a total of 26 attempts.
The Bulldogs 18 shots forced UNCG goalkeeper, Kelsey Kearney, to make seven saves on the afternoon. The freshman has now stopped a total of 32 saves on the season. Kearney continued to lower her goals against average, dropping it below one goal a game to 0.92. In seven appearances, Kearney has played a total of 587:03 minutes and given up six goals.
The Spartans had perhaps their best opportunity of the game in the 86th minute of play when a blocked shot by Danford found the feet of Partenheimer, who attempted a shot of her own just four seconds later, but missed the net, sending the ball wide right. Freshman Jaimey Etten had an opportunity to win the game for the Spartans with just 15 seconds to play in regulation, but had her shot saved by Bulldog goalie Cayley Winters.
With just nine seconds left on the clock in the first over time, Towne attempted her second shot of the game, but had her shot stopped by Winters. Winters finished the game with a total of four saves.
Samford also held the advantage on corner kicks, sending six into the box over the course of regulation to just one for the Spartans. UNCG had one opportunity in each over-time stanza, but came up empty.