College of Charleston 1, Wofford 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston women's soccer team defeated Wofford, 1-0, with Hope Atkinson's fifth minute goal. The Cougars dominated every phase of the match and maintained the shutout for the second consecutive game.
The Cougars improve to 8-9-1 (5-4-1 SoCon) with the win. Wofford falls to 6-5-4 (1-5-4 SoCon) on the year as the teams vie for positioning going into the Southern Conference Tournament.
"This was another game that we dominated from the outset and were fortunate to score the early goal which let us be more patient for the rest of the time," said head coach Christian Michner. "Wofford did a really good job of blocking the middle of the field and making it difficult for us to play around them.
"Defensively we were very good and limited Wofford's chances on goal. Getting two shutouts in a weekend is difficult and looks good for us as we get ready to move into the conference tournament."
The Cougars boasted a 15-3 shot advantage in the match and put six attempts on goal.
Atkinson (Piedmont, S.C.) struck early for the Cougars, controlling the ball at the 25-yard area and ripped a shot perfectly into the upper-right corner from distance.
The Cougars close out the regular season with a cross-town rivalry match up against the Citadel. The SoCon bout is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Patriots Point.
Wofford concludes the regular season with a home match against Furman, Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Furman 3, The Citadel 0
Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel fell to Southern Conference foe Furman, 3-0, Sunday afternoon in the final home match of the regular season.
Martha Hall led Fuman's offense with six shots, two on goal, and two assists. However, three different Paladins finished the match with a goal. Senior Nicole Martinoli and freshman Mariana Garcia each tallied three shots to lead the Bulldogs' offense. Junior Whitney Nave finished the match with three saves defending The Citadel net, while classmate Laura Serafino came in as a relief and finished with one save.
The Citadel began the match firing early, with Martinoli taking the first two shots of the match, but neither connected with the net, as the first shot sailed high and the second went wide. Garcia took a shot at the 9:56 mark from the top of the box, but Jessica Smith finished the play with a save. A minute later on the other side of the field, Hall took a corner kick for the Paladins but Chelsea McKie's header went high. Hall took another corner kick for Furman, but with no result, the match went into halftime with a scoreless draw.
Furman brought the heat in the second period as Hall took a shot one minute into the half but it went wide. At the 47:27 mark, with the ball back in her possession, Hall's pass to the left side of the box to Megan Dougherty connected with the net and gave Furman a 1-0 lead. The Citadel attempted to deplete the lead with a shot by freshman Nicole Levermann but Smith came up with the save. Martinoli found a loose ball at the 56:36 mark, but the shot went wide left. Exactly one minute later, Vanessa Aponte again made an attempt for the goal, but her shot also ended with the same result.
Furman regained possession of the ball and after Hall's shot was blocked, the Paladins offensive leader took a corner kick that Meagan Zusi then passed to Ellen Moore who found the back of the net for Furman's second score of the match. The Paladins extended their lead to 3-0 when Moore assisted Rachel Shelnutt at the 68th minute.
The Citadel attempted to prevent the shutout when Martinoli took a corner kick at the 68:46 mark, but Aponte's shot was blocked. Garcia grabbed the deflection and made a quick move pass her defender to take a hard kick, but the shot went wide to the left.
With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 11-6-1 overall and 7-3 in the SoCon, while the Paladins move up to 9-6-3 overall and 4-3-4 in league competition.
"I thought there was some very good soccer played by both teams," said head coach Bob Winch. "We broke down a few times in the back and Furman did a nice job of finishing those chances. We will forget it fast and get ready for the CofC game."
The Bulldogs will end the regular season at the College of Charleston on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, S.C.
Furman travels to face Wofford Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Spartanburg, S.C.
#19 UNCG 1, Appalachian State 0
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's soccer (5-8-4, 2-5-3 SoCon) suffered a tough 1-0 setback to #19 UNCG (15-1-1, 10-0 SoCon) Sunday afternoon at ASU Soccer Stadium.
ASU attempted to get on the board only 29 seconds into the match off a shot by sophomore Hannah Coad (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity), but Coad's shot went wide.
The Spartans followed with back-to-back shots by Jenn Partenheimer and Lauren Hein, but they were caught by senior goalkeeper Caroline Clarke (Greenwood, S.C./Greenwood Christian).
Trailing another shot by Coad, which was saved by UNCG's Kelsey Kearney, the Spartans took six straight shots before sophomore Meggie Graham (Marietta, Ga./Walton) took a hard shot at the goal at 41:57, only to have it tallied as Kearney's second save of the half.
The Spartans, who finished the match with nine corner kicks, took four consecutive corners starting at 39:31, but were not able to get a shot in due to the stout Appalachian defense.
The Mountaineers held off the Spartans, who have netted 20 first-half goals, and both teams took a scoreless tie into the half.
Coming out of the half, neither team was able to get into an offensive rhythm due to fouls and an offsides call on UNCG, but at 60:10 Kristen Schmidbauer took a shot at the goal pulling out Clarke for the save, but on the save Clarke and freshman Kara Buono (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale) collided allowing Kory Spotts to rebound the shot and make the pass back to Schmidbauer to score an open net goal.
After an injury timeout was taken to assist Buono, both teams made a series of substitutions to get fresh legs into the match.
The Spartans brought the ball back down the field after a foul was called on the Mountaineers and at 72:22 Stine Schoening took a shot at the goal, but it was saved by Clarke. Tabitha Padgett, who is ranked in the top half of the conference with 10 goals, took back-to-back shots and was denied both times by Clarke.
After the net was cleared out by Clarke, Nicole Danford, Schoening and Padgett came right back at Clarke and the Greenwood, S.C.-native saved all three shots.
With time winding down in the final period of play, junior Katy Dodd (Apex, N.C./Apex) took a shot at the goal, but it was blocked by a Spartan defender.
Graham took the final shot of the match with three seconds left on the clock, but it was saved by Kearney as the final horn sounded.
Clarke (5-8-2) had a career-high 12 saves, despite taking the loss as Kearney (15-1-1) tallied three saves and the victory.
The Spartans held the advantage in the shot column, 18-5.
The Mountaineers are the fifth team all season to hold the Spartans to under two goals. The others were Utah (1-0 win), Southern Cal (0-0 tie), Cal State Fullerton (2-0 loss) and Samford (1-0 win).
Appalachian returns to action on Wednesday (Oct. 27) as the Mountaineers take on Western Carolina at 7 p.m. at ASU Soccer Stadium as part of Senior Night festivities.
The Spartans visit Elon Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the regular season finale.
Elon 2, Western Carolina 1
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's soccer (5-10-3, 2-6-2 SoCon) dropped a 2-1 decision to Elon (11-6-1, 6-4 SoCon) Sunday on Senior Day at the Catamount Soccer Complex.
Prior to the match, seniors Liz Eichler, Erin Hamilon, Kellie Oberholtzer and Caitlin Williams were honored.
Elon got the go ahead goal early in the second half, with the match tied at one. Western Carolina was called for a hand ball in the box and the Phoenix was awarded a penalty kick. Elon's Alanna Winsper kicked the ball on the left side of the net, just past the diving Catamount goalie Caitlin Williams for the score.
Shots were few and far between for both teams in the first half. Western Carolina took advantage of their second shot of the half and was awarded with a goal. Freshman forward Christine Kaznowski scored her sixth goal of the season off an assist by Katie Salmons. At the 32:31 minute mark, Salmons passed the ball inside the box to Kaznowski and she shot it on the right side, from two yards out, just passed Elon goalie Kristen Haney.
It took 15 minutes for either team to record a shot in the first half. Elon had the first shot of the match with a header from Jennifer McGorty that was blocked by the Catamounts. Elon had just one shot in the first half. Western Carolina's first of two shots in the first half was a shot wide by Kayla Sedgley.
Elon tied the match 30 seconds into the second half. The Phoenix's Chelsey Stark scored on a through ball from five yards out off an assist by Brittany Hallberg.
Freshman Kayla Sedgley's second shot in the match was a huge opportunity for Western Carolina to tie the match. At the 83:57 mark, Sedgley had a break-away shot that tipped the goal post on the left side.
Western Carolina had six shots in the match and Elon had eight, seven in the second half. Williams had three saves and Elon's Haney had one.
The Catamounts travel to Appalachian State on Wednesday to close out the regular season. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
Elon hosts No. 19 UNCG at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the regular season finale.
Davidson 1, Chattanooga 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson women's soccer team kept its bid alive for a spot in the Southern Conference Tournament next weekend when they scored a 1-0 win over visiting Chattanooga, the program's 100th league win, as the Wildcats' finished unbeaten at Alumni Stadium in giving their seniors one final home victory on Sunday for Senior Day.
Sophomore Rachael Newmister (Clover, S.C.) gathered in a blocked shot off a corner kick in the six-yard box and drilled the ball into the back of the net for the lone score in the 73rd minute.
The Wildcats (6-8-4, 2-4-4 SoCon) earned their sixth straight win over the Mocs (4-12-2, 2-6-2 SoCon) and improved to 15-1-1 all-time.
Junior Stephanie Gerow (Houston, Texas) was credited with her third career assist on the play.
The 'Cats closed out their home regular-season schedule at 5-0-3, the first time in the program's 22-year history they have gone unbeaten on their home turf. They also set a new program mark by pushing their home unbeaten streak to 12 games (7-0-5) dating back to last year. Davidson previously had an 11-game unbeaten streak during the 2005 season and into 2006 campaign.
Prior to the game, seniors Beth Peters (Atlanta, Ga.), Amanda Flink (Richardson, Texas), Callan Elswick (Locust Grove, Va.) and Allison Drutchas (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) were each honored as part of Senior Day. The four players have helped Davidson to a combined 42 wins, 25 of those in SoCon play, during their four-year careers.
Davidson will now look to clinch one of the eight spots in the SoCon Tournament with another win when it heads to Georgia Southern next Thursday, Oct. 28, for a 4 p.m. contest.
Chattanooga hosts Samford Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Samford 3, Georgia Southern 0
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Women's Soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision Sunday afternoon (October 24) to Southern Conference foe Samford at Eagle Field. Jenny Anderson (Birmingham, Ala.) was recognized before the match for Senior Day.
Samford (11-5-2, 7-2-1) took a 1-0 lead into the break when Katie Proud scored for the fourth time this season. Lauren Cook fed Proud the ball and the freshman found the back of the net in the 32nd minute with a chip over the keeper. The Bulldogs outshot the Eagles (5-12-0, 2-8-0) 7-1 in the first half. Katie Merson (Albuquerque, N.M.) picked up two saves, while Bulldog goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead saved an Alanna Rudd (Hampton, England) shot on goal in the 41st minute.
The Bulldogs extended their lead in the second half with two goals coming seven minutes apart. Trine Taule put Samford in front 2-0 on her own rebound off the post at 61:55, while Michelle Moll gave the Bulldogs their final score with a low shot from outside the box in the 69th minute.
Merson finished the contest with three saves as Samford outshot Georgia Southern 10-1 in the second half.
Georgia Southern concludes regular season play welcoming Davidson to Eagle Field on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 4 p.m.
The Bulldogs travel to take on Chattanooga Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT).