#21 UNCG 2, College of Charleston 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - No. 21 UNCG and College of Charleston played their usual tight contest, but the Spartans emerged victorious once again as Jaimey Etten and Tabitha Padgett scored in the 2-1 Southern Conference win Sunday.
The contest was the eighth straight between the two teams that was decided by just one goal. UNCG has won the last six.
With their eighth straight win overall, the Spartans improved their school-record start to 11-1-1, including a 6-0-0 mark in the SoCon. College of Charleston fell to 6-8-0, 3-3-0 in the league.
"It's good to be 6-0 in the conference, on top," UNCG coach Eddie Radwanski said. "We expected a tough game from Charleston because it's always a good game. We put our authority on it early, scored a great goal. Probably should have got another one and could have made the game a little easier to manage, but credit us for coming out in the second half and getting the second one. It was a little bit of a defensive lapse to concede a goal, but Charleston's not going to give up there. That's the kind of team that they are."
Padgett notched her fourth game-winning goal of the season in the 49th minute. After Jenn Partenheimer played a ball to Cat Barnekow in the midfield, Barnekow raced to the endline and sent a pass in front of the goal to Padgett. There, the reigning SoCon Co-Player of the Year one-timed it home to put UNCG on top 2-0 at that point.
Etten had the Spartans' first goal of the day, converting a Lauren Hein pass in the 17th minute. Etten passed the ball to Hein, who had her back to the goal at the top of the 18-yard box, and Hein tapped the ball back to Etten, who unleashed a rocket from 22 yards out into the upper left 90 for her second goal of the year.
The Cougars broke up the shutout in the 68th minute off a set piece. Maryam Buazza took a corner kick and found Amanda Raymond on the far side. Raymond finished it for her first goal of the season to draw CofC within a goal.
College of Charleston kept the pressure on, even putting another ball in the back of the net in the waning minutes, but Sarah Schaidle's goal was waved off for an offside violation by the Cougars.
UNCG had its chances for more, but was a bit unlucky. Jessi Gulledge headed a shot off the crossbar in the first half, while Padgett had her shot saved into the crossbar and out of play by CofC keeper Katie Tate just before halftime.
Padgett's goal was her seventh of the season and moved her point total to 19 on the year, matching what she put up as a freshman last season. Etten's goal pushed her season point total to a career-best nine, while Partenheimer's assist moved her to 11 points this year, matching her career high.
Kelsey Kearney made three saves in the net for UNCG, but will have to wait another game to try to set the school shutout record. Kearney matched the record with her 25th career shutout Friday night against The Citadel.
Tate made three saves for the Cougars, who have dropped three of their last four games after opening SoCon play 2-0-0.
UNCG held a 15-7 shot advantage on the afternoon and took 11 corner kicks to CofC's three. The Cougars came into the game leading the league with more than five per game.
The Spartans are now 7-0-0 at home on the season, and with just one more home game during the regular season and potentially one in the first round of the SoCon Championship, UNCG has a chance at setting a school record for home winning percentage. The existing mark of .889 was set in 1995 and matched in 2008, when UNCG went 8-1-0 at UNCG Soccer Stadium in both seasons.
UNCG returns to action on Friday, Oct. 15, when it will take on Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
College of Charleston is on the road again Friday for a rematch of last year's SoCon Tournament final at Davidson, starting at 7 p.m.
The Citadel 2, Elon 1
ELON, N.C. - Despite nearly tying a season-high with 18 total shots, the Elon University women's soccer team fell, 2-1, to the Citadel Bulldogs in Southern Conference action on Sunday afternoon from Rudd Field.
Elon (8-5-1, 3-3 SoCon) outshot the Bulldogs (8-5-1, 4-2 SoCon), 18-5, in the loss. Last Sunday, the Phoenix tied a season-high with 19 shots in a loss to Georgia Southern.
"Our team works very hard and the last two Sundays we've outshot our opponents by a wide margin," said Elon head women's soccer coach Chris Neal. "As a team, we just haven't been disciplined and alert enough to complete 90 minutes of soccer with two wins in a weekend."
Freshman Chelsey Stark scored Elon's only goal of the contest, as her strike in the 67th minute off a blocked Alanna Winsper free kick tied the game at 1-1. On the year, Stark has registered three goals.
The Bulldogs scored the lone goal of the first half, as an Elon foul in the box led to a penalty kick for Vanessa Aponte in the eighth minute and a 1-0 lead for The Citadel.
The Citadel went into the locker room with a 1-0 lead, despite nine shots (five on goal) for the Phoenix. Kendall Stanley and Stark both registered a team-high two shots in the first half.
Elon got on the scoreboard to tie the game in the 67th minute after a blocked Winsper free kick found its way to Stark. The rookie's strike landed in the top right corner of the goal past keeper Whitney Nave to make it a 1-1 game.
But despite Elon's ferocious offensive attack, the Bulldogs managed to net another goal to reclaim the lead, as Mariana Garcia scored on a cross from Jillian Meyer from 10-yards out to give The Citadel a 2-1 advantage in the 72nd minute.
Elon had several chances to tie the game down the stretch, but could not cash in, as the Bulldogs escaped Rudd Field with the win.
Prior to the match, seniors Alanna Winsper, Brittany Hallberg, Meghan Braun, Amanda Jones, Caroline Klara, Maria Maturo and Kyle Waggoner were honored for Senior Day.
Elon is back in action on Friday, Oct. 15, at Furman for a 7 p.m. match while The Citadel is at Georgia Southern, Friday at 4 p.m.
Samford 3, Furman 2 (OT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University soccer team's Sarah Wilkinson scored the game-winning goal Sunday in the eighth minute of overtime to give the Bulldogs a thrilling 3-2 Southern Conference victory against the Furman Paladins. Samford's Leah Leppert and Trine Taule also tallied goals in the critical SoCon matchup.
"This was a great win for us," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I hate that we gave up that goal there in the end of regulation, but I'm obviously very proud of our players in how they showed great character on a Sunday in October when it's 90 degrees. It took great effort for them to come back and get the game-winner so that we can keep this positive momentum going."
With the victory, Samford (8-5-1, 4-2 SoCon) extended its winning streak to four-consecutive matches. Since dropping a hard-fought 1-0 decision to No. 21-ranked UNC Greensboro on Sept. 26, the Bulldogs have rattled off consecutive SoCon victories against College of Charleston 2-0, The Citadel 7-0, Wofford 1-0 and Furman (8-4-2, 3-1-2 SoCon) 3-2 in overtime.
Heading into Sunday's contest, Furman was the second-place team in the conference and had not been defeated since a 1-0 loss at South Carolina on Sept. 12. The Paladins' loss to Furman snapped their six-match undefeated streak.
"After we started off the first weekend so poorly with those two losses, our players have really been focused and very determined," Yelton said. "Furman was a very difficult and challenging test for us. I think Andrew (Burr) is one of the best coaches in the league and he always does a great job with his crew against us. Also, Martha Hall and Rachel Shellnut are a handful to deal with."
With less than four minutes remaining in regulation and Samford leading 2-1, Furman's Rachel Shelnutt connected on a header off a corner kick to even the match at 2-2. The goal, which was tallied in the 87th minute of play, proved to be Shelnutt's eighth of the season. The Paladin's Martha Hall was awarded an assist on the score.
Hall, Furman's all-conference forward from Knoxville, Tenn., tallied the first goal of the match Sunday to give the Paladins an early 1-0 advantage in the 15th minute. The score was Hall's SoCon-leading ninth of the season and was assisted by Dee Makris and Laura White.
Despite falling behind early, Samford bounced right back and evened the score at 1-1 with a goal from Leppert at 33:44. On the score, which was Leppert's third of the season, the Bulldogs' senior from Germantown, Tenn., fired a line-drive shot from the left flank that was nicked by a Furman defender and found the corner of the net. Leppert's goal was from approximately 30 yards out.
At halftime, Samford and Furman were all square at 1-1. The Bulldogs outshot the Paladins 7-4 in the first period, while Furman's goalkeeper Jessica Smith pulled down four saves in the opening 45 minutes of play.
Samford scored its second goal of the match nearly 17 minutes into the final half. At 56:50, the Bulldogs' Taule slammed home a crossing pass from freshman Katie Proud on the right baseline to give Samford a 2-1 lead. On the scoring play, Proud outran a pair of Furman defenders down the right sideline and turned the corner near the baseline to fire the crossing pass.
During Proud's run, Taule timed her move perfectly and found a soft spot in Furman's defense near the right post. Proud passed the ball directly to Taule's feet and the Bulldogs' true freshman from Frekhaug, Norway, blasted home the shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
"If you just look at us as a group, we've had different players at different times of the year step up for us and provide that scoring spark," said Yelton. "We have lost some of our attacking options due to injury and Trine and Sarah have absolutely accepted that challenge and have both scored some big goals for us."
Down the stretch in the second half of play, Samford looked as if it was going to roll to a 2-1 victory until Furman's Shelnutt tallied the equalizing goal with just 3:32 left in regulation.
The Bulldogs led the Paladins in shots 16-9 at the end of the first 90 minutes of play, while Samford was whistled for seven fouls, as compared to zero for Furman in regulation.
In overtime, the Bulldogs completely dominated the run of play and rattled off four quick shots, including Wilkinson's game-winning goal.
On Wilkinson's decisive score, which occurred at exactly 97:49, Hilary Samuels gathered an errant Furman pass and drove down the right side of the field. She then fired a crossing shot in front of the goal and Wilkinson headed it into the bottom right corner of the net from seven yards out. The score was Wilkinson's fourth of the season, while Samuels' assist was her team-leading fifth of the 2010 campaign.
"Hilary has been playing in a new position and we've moved her more wide for us," Yelton said. "She has done a great job and has gotten us goals just from flat out determination. She's run down a lot of balls that other people would have quit on and she's been hitting great service. Today, she put Sarah in a great position and it ended up being the game-winner."
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs play host to the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Senior Night.
Samford will be wearing special pink jerseys to bring awareness to Breast Cancer Prevention on Friday. The Bulldogs' pink Samford soccer jerseys will also be auctioned through a silent auction during the match. All proceeds will benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Furman returns home to entertain Elon Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Appalachian State 1, Georgia Southern 0
BOONE, N.C.- Senior Shannon Healy (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) caught sophomore Michelle Jewell (Raleigh, N.C./Leesville Road) coming across the box and Healy found the back of the net to give Appalachian State University women's soccer (4-5-4, 1-2-3 SoCon) a 1-0 win over Georgia Southern (5-8, 2-4 SoCon) on Sunday afternoon from ASU Soccer Stadium.
Appalachian's first shot of the contest was taken by freshman Kara Buono (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale), who made an aggressive move toward the goal, but it was stopped by Georgia Southern goalkeeper Katie Merson. Following a GSU foul, Buono came right back at the goal, but her shot was wide.
Redshirt sophomore Jordan Horvath (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) attempted ASU's next shot at 26:31, but it was blocked. The Mountaineers took two straight corner kicks before Jewell set up Healy for her first goal of the season at the 29:27mark. The goal was Appalachian's eighth.
GSU tried to tie up the match with shots by McKenna and Carlee Storey and Alanna Rudd to close out the first half of play, but two were converted into saves for Clarke while M. Storey's shot sailed wide.
The defenses tightened back up in the second half of play. In the first half, both teams only allowed four shots and in the second half each team only allowed three shots.
Sara Oland tried to tie up the match on a hard shot to senior Caroline Clarke (Greenwood, S.C./Greenwood Christian), but Clarke made a diving save to keep the ball from going into the net.
The Mountaineers then attempted three straight shots to try to increase their lead. Junior Katy Dodd (Apex, N.C./Apex) made a nice move to the goal, but her shot finished wide at 51:35. Jewell, wanting to add a goal to her earlier assist, attempted her only shot of the contest at 55:26, but hers was saved by Merson. Buono, who led Appalachian in shots with three, took her final shot at 57:28, but was denied by Merson, as well.
The Eagles took two chances at the end of the match to try for a tie, but neither was successful as ASU hung on to secure their first Southern Conference victory of the season.
The shutout was the Apps' sixth of the season and fifth by Clarke (4-5-2), who finished the match with five saves. Merson took the loss and finished with three saves.
"I thought today was a team win," said ASU head coach Sarah Strickland. "It was truly a team win because it wasn't necessarily the starting 11, but it was players coming off the bench, as well. I thought we improved the tempo and I thought the team really stuck together and earned the win together. Michelle Jewell did a great job getting in on the back side and created a lot of opportunities. Kara Buono upfront, who doesn't get to play very often, but really created a lot. Shannon Healy was outstanding today. She continued what she was doing on Friday and came up with the big goal. So I am really proud. Clarke (Caroline) got her fifth shutout, and that was huge. She is getting closer and closer on the stat chart."
The Mountaineers embark on a three-game road trip starting with Samford on Oct. 15. Action from Bulldog Field in Birmingham, Ala. is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
Georgia Southern returns to Statesboro to entertain The Citadel Friday at 4 p.m.
Chattanooga 2, Wofford 2 (2 OT)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga battled Wofford to a double-overtime 2-2 tie in Southern Conference women's soccer action on a balmy Sunday afternoon at Finley Stadium.
Chattanooga moves to 3-10-1 overall and 1-4-1 in league play while the Terriers remain winless in conference play at 5-4-4 overall and 0-2-4 against the SoCon.
The Lady Mocs struck first on junior Donna-Kay Henry's (Queen's Village, N.Y.) sixth goal of the season in the 11th minute. Freshman Kerbi Towry (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) sent a pass that was flicked on by sophomore Becca Smith (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) to Henry. She caught the deflection off the keeper and sent a soft shot in from the right to an empty net to give Chattanooga a 1-0 lead.
Chattanooga would get a second goal, this time from junior Danielle Barr (Hixson, Tenn.) off a corner kick from Lauren Wilson (Columbia, Tenn.). Barr picked up the ball in front of the net and knocked a header to the back of the net to give UTC a 2-0 lead with just 20 minutes gone in the game.
However, that lead would be cut in half 36 seconds later as Wofford raced downfield on the kickoff for its first goal. Emily Bougas took a pass from Nikki Siebert at the 20:16 mark and lofted the ball over Chattanooga keeper Taylor Mangrum's (Franklin, Tenn.) head for the score. The two teams went into the half with UTC leading 2-1.
In the second half, the Terriers nabbed another score to knot it up 2-2 in the 53rd minute. Bougas went unassisted to tie the match 2-2 grabbing the ball in the box and shooting in from the left side.
Both teams had many opportunities late in the game and into overtime. Two headers by Barr on corners went just wide and Mangrum made an important save in regulation and another in the first overtime to keep the Terriers from scoring.
Chattanooga will remain at home for a pair of league matches beginning Friday, Oct. 15 with Western Carolina at 7 p.m. at Finley Stadium. Sunday's game will kick off at 1 p.m. against Appalachian State. Live stats and streaming video will be available at GoMocs.com and admission is free.
Wofford hosts 21st-ranked UNCG Friday at 7 p.m.
Western Carolina 1, Davidson 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's soccer (5-7-2, 2-3-1 SoCon) shutout Davidson (4-7-3, 0-3-3 SoCon) Sunday, at the Catamount Soccer Complex, for its second straight Southern Conference win of the season; and first back-to-back wins since the start of the season.
The Catamounts opened the weekend of play with a 2-0 win over Georgia Southern on Friday.
"Picking up two wins this weekend really shows the character of this team," said Head Coach Chad Miller. "This program has always been about heart and belief and this team showed that with these two wins."
It was a pair of freshman that put Western Carolina on the board in the middle of the first half. Freshman forward Kayla Sedgley passed a ball to fellow freshman Christine Kaznowski deep inside of the box. Kaznowski took the ball and put herself in between the goalie and the defender and booted the ball in the net for the score at the 20:21 mark. It was Kaznowski's fifth goal of the season and Sedgley's first career assist.
"Christine's goal was a brave effort," Miller said. "She knew we needed a score and she put herself in between the goalie and defender, showing her ability to make the sacrifice for the goal."
The remaining first half and the 45 minutes of the second half was all about Western Carolina protecting its lead and looking for another score. Davidson had four shots in the first half, but none were a huge threat to Western Carolina. The Wildcats came out in the second half with a more aggressive effort, taking five shots, but met the wall and determination of the Catamount defense and goalie Caitlin Williams.
"Picking up two shutouts is huge momentum for the team," Miller said. "We really changed our mentality in the back-field. We were giving up 20 to 25 shots earlier in the year and today we gave up nine."
Williams had eight saves in the match and now has four shutouts for the season. Kaznowski lead Western Carolina with five shots.
Western Carolina heads back on the road next weekend. The Catamounts face Chattanooga at 7 p.m. on Friday and Samford at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Davidson hosts College of Charleston Friday at 7 p.m.