UNC Greensboro 1, Elon 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Freshman Tabitha Padgett scored in the 71st minute and UNC Greensboro made the lead stand, beating Elon 1-0 on Thursday to win its fourth straight Southern Conference regular-season championship. The Spartans secured the top seed and hosting duties for the SoCon Championship, which will be held Nov. 6 and 8 at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
The win sent seniors Kelly Attayek, Jen Bronson, Lauren Lopez, Heather Mitrisin and Leigh Riordon out with titles on Senior Day.
UNCG finished the regular season with a 13-6 overall record and a 9-2 mark to sit atop the SoCon standings. Elon wrapped up its regular season with a 12-5-2 overall record and a 7-3-1 mark in league play. The Phoenix will have to wait for Saturday's Davidson-Georgia Southern match to learn its fate - a Davidson win would put the Wildcats into a tie with Elon for fourth in the league and give Davidson entry into the four-team tournament via tiebreaker. A Georgia Southern win or tie would give Elon the No. 4 seed and a tournament berth.
The Spartans dominated the first half statistically, outshooting the Phoenix 16-2 and holding a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks. But Elon's defense held stout - with Little making five of her eight saves in the opening stanza - and the teams were locked in a scoreless duel until well into the second half.
That's when Padgett came through with her team-high fifth game-winning goal of the season, taking a pass from Jenn Partenheimer at the top of the box, dribbling in a few steps and beating Elon keeper Sydney Little to the right side of the goal at the 70:13 mark.
UNCG's defense did the rest, surviving Elon's late-game push to post its 10th shutout in 19 games this season. Keeper Kelsey Kearney made one save in turning in her eighth shutout of the year, moving her into a tie for fourth place on UNCG's career list with Katherine Ryan (2004-07).
Elon's best scoring chance came in the 54th minute, when Brittany Hallberg took a pass just outside the 18-yard box and fired a shot on frame. Kearney was there to make the stop, keeping the game scoreless at that point.
Attayek nearly made it a 2-0 game in the 76th minute, receiving a pass from Bronson inside the box and firing away from 8 yards out. Little made a nice diving stop on the ball, going to her left for the quick save to keep the Spartans from adding an insurance goal.
The Phoenix ramped up their offensive pressure late in the game, but the UNCG defense stepped up to clear the ball away time after time. Elon's Claire O'Keefe had a nice look in the 89th minute, dribbling in on the right side and firing from about 10 yards out. Her shot was blocked by a UNCG defender, however, and the Phoenix would not get off another chance.
For the match, UNCG held a 22-6 shot advantage and a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks. Six players accounted for Elon's six attempts, while Partenheimer led the Spartans with five shots.
The tile, UNCG's fifth in the last seasons, makes the Spartans the first SoCon team to win four straight titles outright. Furman won five straight from 1999-2003, but shared the title in 2001. The regular-season championship is UNCG's eighth overall since joining the league in 1997.
Samford 3, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- In its regular-season finale, the Samford University soccer team used a trio of first-half goals to spark the Bulldogs to a 3-1 road victory against the Chattanooga Lady Mocs at the North River Complex. Samford's Cindy Spiker, Paige Lanter and Lauren Cook all scored goals in Thursday's win.
With the victory, Samford (12-1-4, 7-1-3 Southern Conference) secured a berth in the 2009 SoCon Tournament and earned a third-place finish in the final conference standings. The Bulldogs will begin play in the prestigious four-team competiton against the second-seeded College of Charleston on Nov. 6.
The 2009 SoCon Tournament will be held at the UNCG Soccer Complex in Greensboro, N.C.
Samford concluded its 2009 regular season with its best record in school history. The Bulldogs have only been defeated once this year and are in the midst of a nine-match undefeated streak. Samford's last loss was a hard-fought 1-0 setback at the College of Charleston on Sept. 27.
With Thursday's defeat, Chattanooga (7-8-1, 2-8-1 SoCon) completed its 2009 campaign as the 11th-place team in the conference. The Lady Mocs dropped their third-consecutive match against Samford and fell to a 1-4 all-time record versus the Bulldogs.
Senior Cindy Spiker helped Samford to an early 1-0 lead Thursday as she tallied her first goal of the season in the 23rd minute of play. Sophomore Lauren Cook assisted on Spiker's first-half score.
Chattanooga bounced right back to even the score at 1-1 in the 28th minute of the opening period. The Lady Mocs' lone goal of the match was scored by Arielle Lankford at exactly 27:40. The goal was Lankford's first of the 2009 campaign and occurred after a saved shot attempt from Lauren Wilson, which deflected off of Samford's goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead.
The assist was Wilson's first of the season.
After the Lady Mocs tied the score at 1-1, Samford tallied its second goal of the match less than two minutes later. At 29:24, the Bulldogs' Paige Lanter notched her second goal of the season to give her team a decisive 2-1 advantage in the match. On the game-winning score, Lanter gathered the ball after a corner kick and rifled a shot into the far corner of the net. Junior Leah Leppert assisted on the goal.
Leppert also assisted on Samford's third goal of the first half. During the 38th minute of play, sophomore Lauren Cook scored the 10th goal of her young career to increase the Bulldogs' lead to 3-1. Leppert, who registered two assists Thursday, upped her total on the season to five.
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action on Nov. 6 as the Bulldogs begin play in the 2009 SoCon Tournament against the second-seeded College of Charleston Cougars. The prestigious four-team competition will be held at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.
College of Charleston 1, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston women's soccer clinched a spot in the Southern Conference Tournament with a 1-0 shutout at The Citadel on Thursday afternoon.
Senior Christian Patton knocked in her first score of the season 23:57 into the game off a pass by junior midfielder Morgan Benz. The goal gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead, which they did not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
Charleston (12-6-1, 8-3 SoCon) sent a barrage of shots toward Citadel goalkeeper Whitney Nave in the first half, out striking the Bulldogs 11-5. Benz and senior forward Chrissy Caruso each registered shots on goal, at the 33:11 and 36:12 marks respectively.
The Citadel (5-12-2, 2-7-2 SoCon) caught up offensively in the second half, outshooting CofC 6-5. Freshman goalkeeper Katie Tate made six saves on the afternoon to earn her fourth win as a Cougar.
Wofford 1, Furman 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Wofford women's soccer won their final game of the 2009 season 1-0 over Furman Thursday night at Stone Soccer Stadium. The Terriers finish the season 4-13-2 overall and 3-6-2 in Southern Conference play.
Chelsea Ashworth scored in the 70th minute to give Wofford the victory in the season finale for both teams.
The Paladins finish their 2009 season 10-8-0 overall and 4-7-0 in Southern Conference play.
After both teams failed to create many scoring chances in the first half, Wofford found the back of the net at 69:04. Rachael Blackburn hammered a long range effort from approximately 30 yards that hit the cross bar and Ashworth followed the miss by tucking a shot into the lefthand corner for her first goal of the season.
Furman, who outshot the Terriers 9-5 after intermission, applied pressure to the Wofford defense in waves over the final 20 minutes. The Paladins' Lucy Martin laced a one-timer from the left side that just missed the nearside post and Katya Gokham rounded her defender only to drag a potential equalizer past the left post several minutes later.
Katie McChesney stopped three shots to earn the shutout in net for Wofford while Jessica Smith and Sarah Caldwell each tallied three saves for the Paladins.
Wofford managed an 11-9 edge in shot attempts and 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. Furman held a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.