Samford 3, Wofford 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University soccer team extended its undefeated streak in Southern Conference play to five straight matches Thursday as the Bulldogs registered a 3-0 win against the Wofford Terriers in a key conference showdown held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
"I thought we played well tonight," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "We were fortunate we didn't give up an early goal because that could've changed the game very drastically. Wofford came out and was on fire in the very beginning and barely missed getting an early goal. After 15 minutes, I thought we did a lot better and Michelle (Moll) scoring that goal really changed the momentum into our favor."
Samford (5-5-2, 3-0-2 SoCon) used goals from Michelle Moll, Kaley Blanton and Amanda Abbot to earn its most decisive victory of the 2011 SoCon season. The Bulldogs remained undefeated in conference play this year and also remained undefeated in its all-time series against Wofford (7-4, 1-4 SoCon).
Thursday marked Samford's sixth meeting with the Terriers and improved its record in the series to 3-0-3.
"Wofford is always a tough team to play against and (Head Coach) Amy (Kiah) does a fantastic job with that program," Yelton said. "They always come out ready to play and they typically match up well with us. I was proud of our squad tonight in getting a quality victory against a quality side."
The Bulldogs' starting goalkeeper, Alyssa Whitehead, played the opening 81 minutes of the contest and picked up a key second-half save. She combined with redshirt freshman Julia Wright for Samford's fourth shutout of the 2011 campaign. Wright, the Bulldogs' talented native of Ridgeland, Miss., earned her first playing time of the season and made two pretty saves in just over nine minutes of action.
"I thought that Sabbath (McKiernan-Allen) and Katie (Danehy) were both great for us tonight and they've been solid all season long in the back," said Yelton. "Early on this year, our outside backs were struggling quite a bit, but I think since we got into conference play they've gained confidence and have been solid players for us. Adrianne Mancino especially has been great for us. She's just getting up and down the flank and causing a lot of trouble for the opponents."
Samford struck first Thursday in the 33rd minute as Moll tallied her second goal of the 2011 campaign. On the game-winning score, the Bulldogs' sophomore native of Evansville, Ind., gathered a loose ball just outside the box, turned to her right and rattled off a line-drive shot that fit perfectly between the diving goalkeeper and the left post.
Moll's goal was assisted by fellow sophomore Trine Taule and gave the Bulldogs their 1-0 halftime lead.
Only 2:05 into the second half, Blanton quickly extended Samford's lead to 2-0 as she blasted home a deflected shot from five yards out into the right half of the net.
Blanton's score came off a corner kick and was set up by Moll who attempted a shot from 10 yards out that was saved by Wofford's goalkeeper Kimberly Cohn. After Cohn deflected Moll's shot attempt, the ball bounced out to her left where Blanton quickly moved in and found the back of the net.
"I thought Kaley Blanton was very good for us tonight," Yelton said. "Amanda Abbott also scored a very big goal for us and then I thought Shannon Weathington gave us some key minutes as well. As we go forward, we're just trying to get better, be solid every time that we step onto the pitch and certainly tonight we did some things well, but there are also a lot of things that we can work on."
Abbott, Samford's talented true freshman from Marietta, Ga., gave the Bulldogs their decisive 3-0 lead in the 61st minute with a tremendous play from 35 yards out.
On the score, Abbott beat a charging Cohn to a loose ball 45 yards away from the goal. She then neatly tapped the ball over Cohn's head and beat a pair of defenders to the spot down the right flank. Once Abbott reached the ball, she fired a laser into the back of the empty net for the goal. The unassisted score was Abbott's second of the 2011 campaign.
Samford has played five matches in the last two weeks and has compiled a 3-0-2 record. Three of the Bulldogs' most recent contests have gone into overtime.
"We've had a rough stretch of games here lately," said Yelton. "Three of our last five games have been overtime games and our players have logged a lot of minutes, so it was nice to be able to rest some of our key players there at the end. We also had some players that came in off the bench to give us fantastic efforts."
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin a crucial three-match conference road trip against the Furman Lady Paladins. Sunday's contest will be held at Furman's Eugene E. Stone III Stadium (3,000) in Greenville, S.C.
Furman 4, Chattanooga 3 (OT)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga scored in the sixth minute and led for the next 80 minutes only to see the lead slip away to Furman who edged the Mocs 4-3 in overtime Thursday night at Finley Stadium.
"People use the term ‘heartbreaker' all the time," Chattanooga Head Coach J.D. Kyzer said. "But tonight was definitely a heartbreaker."
UTC senior Donna-Kay Henry (Queens Village, N.Y.) was working to get past the Furman defense late in the game and slipped the ball to teammate junior Becca Smith (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) a few feet away and Smith converted the goal from 10 yard out to give Chattanooga a 3-1 lead with 8:17 to play in regulation.
However, the Paladins stepped up the offense and cut the lead to 3-2 just one minute later on a corner kick then scored the equalizer with less than five minutes remaining in regulation.
"Things were clicking and we were playing so well," Kyzer said. "We're so young and we have never been in this situation with a lead on a very good team. We didn't stick to the game plan at the end and it hurt us."
Chattanooga jumped on the board early with a goal from freshman Crystal Mackezyk (Columbia, Tenn.) at the 5:56 mark of the game. Smith sent a pass to Mackezyk in the middle who took the shot from 12 yards out and found the net for her fourth goal of the season.
Furman tied the match in the 11th minute on a goal from team-leading scorer Rachel Shelnutt. She eluded the defense and hit the shot into the lower right corner to tie the game at 1-1. The Mocs responded a short time later as Mackezyk found Henry in the box who converted on her fourth goal and put Chattanooga up 2-1 in the 17th minute.
The score remained unchanged throughout most of the rest of the game until Smith's goal, her league-leading 11th of the year, in the 81st minute game the Mocs a two-goal cushion. That wouldn't be enough to fend off Furman who then scored three unanswered for the win.
India Robinson stepped in to take her first corner of the night and found Dee Makris in front of the goal to cut the Mocs lead to 3-2. Just minutes later, Ali Simpson arced a shot from about 25 yards out on the right side and cleared Chattanooga keeper sophomore Taylor Mangrum (Franklin, Tenn.) to tie the match in the 86th minute.
Neither team could score before the clock wound down and in overtime Shelnut connected on her second goal of the match at the 92:10 mark to give the Paladins the 4-3 overtime victory.
"Furman is a good team and well coached," Kyzer said. "This was disappointing, just disappointing. We've now dropped three very close games and that makes it hard to keep the faith, but we're on the same page and playing some decent soccer right now and we'll take that with us to Wofford on Sunday."
Chattanooga falls to 5-6-1 overall and 0-5 in Southern Conference action while Furman improves to 8-5-1 overall and 3-1-1 in league play. The Mocs will begin a three-game road swing this Sunday at Wofford with a 2 p.m. start.