UNC Greensboro 1, Chattanooga 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Kristin Player's goal just before halftime proved the difference as UNC Greensboro picked up a 1-0 win over Chattanooga on Sunday at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
The Spartans improve to 10-6 overall and 6-2 in the Southern Conference with the win. Chattanooga falls to 6-6-1 overall and 1-6-1 in league play.
Player scored the game's only goal at the 42:18 mark. Redshirt freshman Stephanie Partenheimer got the play started in the midfield, tapping the ball back to Lauren Lopez just over the midfield stripe. Lopez lofted a perfect pass into the box for Player, who redirected it without breaking stride for her seventh goal of the season.
For Player, the goal put her into a tie with freshman Tabitha Padgett for the team lead in goals. Partenheimer's assist was the first point of her career.
Player's goal was all the offense the Spartans would need on the day, as UNCG's defense shut down the Lady Mocs, who came into the contest scoring a league-best 2.17 goals per game, and the SoCon's leading scorer, UTC freshman Becca Smith. Smith had five shots on the afternoon, but put just one of them on frame.
UNCG had another golden scoring chance with just over 30 minutes to play, when sophomore Nicole Danford made a run down the left side of the field and played a perfect ball across the net. Padgett came streaking in and made a sliding attempt to get a boot on it, but missed what would have been a sure goal by just inches.
Kelsey Kearney picked up the win, making one save in earning her sixth shutout of the season. The shutout was also the 17th of her career, putting her just one back of fifth place in school history. Laura Mussulman had 18 from 1988-91.
Taylor Davidson worked the final 73:31 in goal for the Lady Mocs, allowing one goal and making five saves. Sydney Dewberry made three saves in 16:29 before departing after a collision with UNCG's Jen Bronson.
UNCG held a 24-10 shot advantage and had five corner kicks to Chattanooga's three.
Georgia Southern 3, Wofford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Wofford women's soccer fell 3-2 against Georgia Southern Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field in Statesboro, Georgia. After both teams were scoreless in the first half, the Eagles triumphed late in the second half to win their first game of the season.
This was the Terriers seventh Southern Conference match and are now 3-12-1 overall and 2-5-1 in Southern Conference play while the Eagles move to 1-14-0 and 1-7-0 in Southern Conference.
As the first half opened up, Wofford took the lead in both shots and corner kicks early with Jewel Kawamoto taking a corner at 2:49 and a header at 3:05. Wofford's Nikki Siebert and Sydney Reed took shots that both went wide right within 4 minutes of each other. Georgia Southern's Danae Kaimuloa took a header at 33:38 that went wide. Before halftime the Terrier's Kawamoto took another corner and at 44:09 Daniella Fatti took a shot that went wide to end the period.
Going into the second half tied 0-0, the Eagle's Sara Oland took an assisted shot from Morgan Springer to score from the left side of the box at 50:56. Wofford would battle back and after two failed shots by Nikki Siebert at 61:22, Rachel Blackburn took an assisted shot from Monica Ploetzke at 67:09 to tie the game. It was Blackburn's first goal of the season. As Georgia Southern tired to rally back, a shot at 69:54 by Morgan Springer was blocked and at 73:58 Wofford's Rachel Blackburn scored again on a free kick, making the score 2-1.
Quickly the Eagle's Danae Kaimuloa scored on a rebound, tying the game 2-2. At 75 minutes into the match, Wofford's Anne Phillips and Nikki Siebert tried to pull away with shots that both went wide right. It was at 81:17 that the Eagle's clenched their victory with a header by Michelle Carlson assisted by Sara Orland. A last minute shot to try and tie at 89:38 by Wofford's Nikki Siebert was saved by Georgia Southern's goalie Missy Meyer.
The Terriers dominated play with twenty-one shots to the Eagle's fourteen, had eight corner kicks over the Eagle's five and had only eight fouls to Georgia Southern's eleven.
Davidson 1, Furman 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Kyri Bye-Nagel's second half goal proved to be the difference as Davidson edged Furman 1-0 in Southern Conference women's soccer action on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium in Davidson, N.C.
With the victory, Davidson improved to 8-9-0 overall and moved ahead of Furman in SoCon play with a 5-3-0 mark. The Paladins, who must finish in the top four to earn a spot in November's SoCon Tournament dropped to 10-5-0 overall and 4-4-0 in the league.
Bye-Nagel provided the only goal of the match at the 51:48 mark as she headed a Callan Elswick cross past Furman keeper Jessica Smith at the near post. The game-winner was the fourth goal of the season for Bye-Nagel.
The Wildcats outshot Furman 11-10 and held a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal. Goalkeeper Loring Ward notched the shutout for Davidson with three saves. Smith stopped three shots for the Paladins.
Samford 1, Elon 0
ELON, N.C. --- The Samford University soccer team extended its undefeated streak to six-consecutive matches Sunday as the Bulldogs used a momentous first-half goal from Leah Leppert to earn a critical 1-0 win against the third-place Elon Phoenix. The Southern Conference showdown was held at Elon's Snyder Field.
With the victory, Samford (10-1-3, 5-1-2 SoCon) concluded its arduous conference road trip with a 2-0 record. On Friday, the Bulldogs handed first-place UNC Greensboro its first home SoCon loss in over four years. By earning its two key road victories, Samford jumped from fourth place in the conference standings to third place.
The Bulldogs will conclude their regular-season schedule with home matches against Georgia Southern and Davidson, as well as a road contest at Chattanooga.
Samford is off to its best season in school history. The Bulldogs have only been defeated once in 2009 and have earned wins against Alabama, UNC Greensboro, Elon and Belmont. Samford has outscored its opponents 20-4 and has earned 10 shutouts.
The Bulldogs' Alyssa Whitehead picked up her eighth complete-game shutout of the 2009 season Sunday. Samford's 6-foot-3 goalkeeper has only allowed four goals in over 1,300 minutes of action this year. Whitehead owns a miniscule goals-against average of 0.24.
With Sunday's loss, Elon (10-4-2, 5-2-1 SoCon) had its four-match undefeated streak snapped. Prior to the contest, the Phoenix had earned consecutive victories against Chattanooga 5-1, Greensboro College 4-1 and Western Carolina 1-0.
Samford's Leppert scored the game-winning goal during the 24th minute of play. The score was her second of the season and second of the weekend. The Bulldogs' junior from Germantown, Tenn., also tallied a crucial goal in Friday's 2-1 victory at UNC Greensboro.
Leppert's goal came off an assist from senior Amber Cress and went to the far post from 15 yards out. The assist was Cress's team-leading seventh of the season. Cress is now in the midst of a three-way tie for second place on Samford's all-time assist list in the category.
In Sunday's defensive struggle, Samford outshot Elon 6-4. Four of the Bulldogs' attempts were on goal, while none of the Phoenix's shots were on goal.
College of Charleston 2, Appalachian State 1
BOONE, N.C. - College of Charleston's Annie Pease scored with 17 seconds left in the game to give the Cougars a 2-1 victory at Appalachian State on Sunday afternoon. The win marks the fourth straight victory for coach Kevin Dempsey's squad (11-4-1, 7-1 SoCon) and keeps CofC first in the Southern Conference.
Pease headed the ball into the top left corner of the goal off a pass by sophomore midfielder Hannah Gmerek for her fifth goal of the season. The junior defender now leads the team in goals and points (10) in 2009.
College of Charleston's score ended a half in which the Cougars outshot the Mountaineers 13-6 but where Appalachian State goalkeeper Caroline Clarke made eight saves to keep the game tied, 1-1, for nearly 45 minutes.
The Mountaineers (5-8-3, 2-4-2 SoCon) grabbed an early lead in the match when Sydney Hill knocked in a shot off a block made by Charleston goalkeeper Katie Tate from a previous strike by Katy Dodd at the 9:07 mark. Tate made four more saves throughout the first half, totaling a career-high seven for the afternoon.
In the final moment of the first half, senior midfielder Julie Romanik rebounded her own missed penalty kick and slipped one past Clarke at with 44 seconds remaining on the clock. Her second score in as many games sent the teams to the locker room tied 1-1.
Western Carolina 0, The Citadel 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina women's soccer team played to a 0-0 draw with The Citadel after two extra periods on Sunday afternoon at the Catamount Athletic Complex.
The Catamounts (5-6-5, 2-3-3 SoCon) outmanned the Bulldogs (5-9-2, 2-4-2 SoCon) in the shot column, 19-9, but were unable to bury the game winning goal.
WCU fired away plenty of opportunities including an initial goal that was waived off due to the team being offside's at the 81st minute in the second half. The Cats then peppered three more shots in the last 20 minutes of regulation.
Shanna Schmoker nearly tipped in the game winner with seconds remaining in the contest, but it missed far right. Two shots for WCU ricocheted off the post and bounced back into play. Five shots were fired in the two overtime periods, but were deflected away by The Citadel.
Schmoker recorded a season-high six shots, while Jenny Matteson followed with three and Rachael Shomper with two. Corner kicks were even for both teams at 4-4.
Goalkeeper Caitlin Williams collected four saves for her seventh shutout of the season. Williams, a junior from Liberty, S.C., has 218 in her career, which is 14 shy of Alesha Row's mark of 232 all-time career saves.