Georgia Southern 2, USC Upstate 0
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Women's Soccer cruised to a 2-0 victory over USC Upstate on Friday afternoon at an overcast Eagle Field. The Eagles outshot the Spartans 21-6 in the match and dominated the run of play. The victory is Georgia Southern's first at Eagle Field during the regular season and improves the Eagles to 2-4-1 on the season. USC Upstate falls to 1-5-1 on the year with the loss.
"We were able to generate a lot of offense today," said Head Coach Lindsey Vanderspiegel. "We put away two of our chances today and I would have liked to score a few more, but two was all we needed for the win today."
Just 15 minutes into the match, Georgia Southern took the lead with Sara Oland's (Evans, Ga.) second goal of the season from the edge of the six yard box. Courtney Collins (Mason, Ohio) played the ball wide from the center of the penalty area to Oland who bested the USC Upstate goalkeeper to the bottom left corner of the net.
After the intermission, Georgia Southern doubled its advantage in the 56th minute when Carlee Storey (Medford, Ore.) surprised the Upstate goalkeeper who was off her line. Storey's corner kick was blocked back wide which allowed the junior to lob in a bending shot which found the net for the Eagles second goal of the afternoon.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kailey Kiefus (North Tustin, Calif.) had an easy day between the pipes, making just one save in the match en route to her first clean sheet in a Georgia Southern uniform. The Spartans logged their first shot on goal of the match with six and a half minutes remaining in the match.
The Eagles open SoCon play next weekend against Wofford (Friday, Sept. 23) and Furman (Sunday, Sept. 25). The match against the Terriers begins at 7 p.m. while the weekend finale against the Paladins starts at 2 p.m.
Elon 2, High Point 0
ELON, N.C. - Rookie Bethany Houpt scored two second-half goals to lead the Elon University women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over visiting instate rival High Point on Friday night, Sept. 16, at Rudd Field.
Elon improves to 2-4-1 with the win and has won or tied in its last four meetings against the Panthers since 2003. High Point drops to 2-5-1 with the setback and has lost its last three matches.
"Tonight was the most disciplined our team has been for all 90 minutes and I am extremely pleased with the way they played," said head coach Chris Neal. "We look forward to carrying this momentum into Sunday's match at Liberty."
After a scoreless first half without much action, Houpt gave the Phoenix a 1-0 edge in the 71st minute after dribbling passed a defender on the right side before blasting a shot into the top left corner from just inside the box her first collegiate goal.
Houpt gave the Phoenix some insurance five minutes later after sophomore Simi Dhaliwal found the rookie with a great pass from midfield on the right side. Houpt connected again, this time off the left post from 15 yards out and into the goal to make it a 2-0 match in the 76th minute.
It was all Elon from there, as the Phoenix defense held the Panthers to limited opportunities to secure the victory.
The Phoenix registered five shots in the opening frame, three of which came from Catherine Brinkman, including one on goal. Elon totaled nine shots in the match compared to High Point's six. The Phoenix also claimed a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Kate Murphy and Shannon Cosgrove each played 45 minutes in the win, as both finished with one save. Cosgrove played between the posts in the final 45 minutes for Elon.
Tonight was the second straight game an Elon player scored multiple goals, as Brinkman also netted two scores for the Phoenix on Sept. 9 against North Florida.
Elon returns to action on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 18, for its final non-conference match of the year when it heads to Lynchburg, Va., to challenge the Liberty Flames.
Chattanooga 2, Alabama A&M 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Senior Donna-Kay Henry (Queens Village, N.Y.) and junior Becca Smith (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) teamed up to give the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's soccer team a 2-1 win over Alabama A&M to close out the Mocs' non-conference slate Friday night at Finley Stadium. Chattanooga improves to 5-1-1, its best start through seven games in school history, and run its unbeaten streak to five games. The Bulldogs drop to 0-6 on the year.
Despite outshooting the Bulldogs 23-4, the Mocs allowed Alabama A&M to score first on a shot from Celeste Roberts from 30 yards out. The ball arced over the defense and cleared the hands of Chattanooga keeper Taylor Mangrum in the 16th minute to give A&M a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of the year for the Bulldogs who started the season with five straight shutouts.
Later in the first half, the Mocs gained the equalizer on Henry's first goal of the season. Smith, with her back to the goal, she headed the ball past a couple of Bulldog defenders to Henry who broke for the goal. Henry gained control of the ball and sent a soft shot past Alabama A&M's keeper into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Shortly into the second half, the pair teamed up again and Smith netted her fourth game-winning goal of the year. This time it was Henry's turn to send a header into the box that was picked up by Smith and nailed home in the 53rd minute.
Chattanooga shut the Bulldogs offense down completely in the second half, not allowing a single shot. Mangrum had just one save in the game to the Bulldogs' Linda Aboagye eight.
Smith got off 10 shots including one that rang off the upright on a free kick. Her 10 attempts ties for seventh most in a game all-time for the Mocs. Henry had five looks at the goal while Kelly Crew (Brisbane, Australia) and Jordan Middleton (Ooltewah, Tenn.) each had two shots.
The Mocs closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule Friday night and will open Southern Conference play Friday, September 23 at UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. then travel to Elon for a 2 p.m. matchup on Sunday, September 25. The Spartans are 1-6 overall and the Phoenix 2-4-1 after a win over High Point Friday night.
Florida Atlantic 1, Furman 0
Boca Raton, Fla. -- Allison Griffin scored in the 15th minute and Ashley Lantes notched 14 saves in goal to guide Florida Atlantic past Furman, 1-0, in non-conference women's soccer action on Friday evening in Boca Raton, Fla.
The loss snapped Furman's three-match winning streak and dropped the Paladins to 4-4-0 on the season while FAU improved to 4-3-0.
"That was a frustrating way to lose," said Furman head coach Andrew Burr. "We created chances for ourselves tonight and played with plenty of effort, but we have to be able to finish a few."
The Paladins outshot the Owls 24-7 and managed a 14-2 edge in shots on goal, but were unable to best Lantes who earned the shutout for FAU.
Griffin provided the only score of the night at the 14:06 mark when she finished from six yards out after Meghan Brown flicked a header into her path near the top of the box. The shot was one of just two on target for the Owls in 90 minutes of action.
Furman, who pressure the Owl defense throughout the night and held its opponent without a shot on goal in the second half, recorded a 5-1 edge in corner kicks. Senior goalkeeper Jessica Smith stopped one shot in the loss.
Furman caps its weekend road trip to Florida on Sunday when it travel to DeLand to face the Stetson Hatters. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.
Richmond 4, Western Carolina 1
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Western Carolina women's soccer (4-2-1) fell 4-1 to Richmond Friday at the Hilton Garden Inn Mayfaire Invitational hosted by UNC Wilmington (3-3-2) at the UNCW Soccer Stadium.
The loss is the first for the Catamounts since dropping a 1-0, overtime, decision to Western Kentucky on August 19, almost a month ago. Richmond is coming off a 2-0 victory over No. 23 William & Mary and ranked seventh in the latest NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings poll.
Western Carolina had a chance to strike first, on a great look four minutes into the first period. Katie Salmons battled and took a shot but it was wide left and the Catamounts seemed to be out of sync after the missed opportunity.
Richmond scored three goals in the first half. At the 21:28 mark, the Spiders' Ashley Williams' header into the box put Richmond up 1-0. Just 11 minutes later, at 32:33, Richmond tacked on its second goal of the period when Lindsey Wicher played the ball from the left side and pushed it through in the left corner. The final goal of the first period was notched by Becca Wann at the 42:40 mark.
The Spiders pulled ahead 4-0 when it scored 11 minutes into the second period.
Western Carolina avoided its second shutout of the season with a score at the 87:45 mark. Freshman forward Caitlyn Bradham scored off a header from a corner kick by junior Laura Greb.
Western Carolina completes competition at the Hilton Garden Inn Mayfaire Invitational on Sunday by facing host UNC Wilmington 1:30 p.m.
Georgia 4, UNCG 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Georgia struck for three first-half goals and added a fourth late in the contest as the Bulldogs downed UNCG 4-1 in Spartan coach Steve Nugent's first game against his former squad.
Nugent, in his first year at the helm for UNCG (1-6), was an assistant for the Bulldogs (6-2) from 2007-10.
"Tonight was a little different than games we've lost this early season," UNCG coach Steve Nugent said. "Tonight we made some untimely mistakes, some very uncharacteristic mistakes defensively. You can't do that against athletic teams that play in big conferences. They'll punish you, and they did tonight."
Georgia struck first in the contest, with Ashley Miller scoring her third goal of the season in the eighth minute to put the Spartans down early. Jenna Owens picked up her team-best fourth assist of the season on the play, as, with her back to the goal inside the 18-yard box, she found Miller charging in for the strike.
Madeline Barker made it 2-0 in Georgia's favor in the 22nd minute, taking an Alexa Newfield pass and banking it in off the right post.
UNCG answered immediately, however, with Jaimey Etten getting the goal back just 17 seconds later to make it 2-1. Kristin Player got the play started with a pass to Lauren Hein, who served a cross in from the left wing for Etten. Etten nodded it home past Georgia keeper Ashley Baker for her first goal of the season.
Torri Allen pushed the Bulldogs' lead back to two goals just before halftime, taking a thru ball from Meghan Gibbons in the midfield and sneaking in a shot near post to make it 3-1 in the 40th minute.
With neither team able to score for the majority of the second frame, Georgia finally broke through in the 82nd minute to put the game away. Gibbon picked up her second assist of the evening on the goal, making a long run down the left side of the field and dishing the ball off to Susannah Dennis, who put it away for her first goal of the season.
Despite only taking five shots on the night, UNCG had plenty of chances in Georgia's offensive third but often came up just one pass shy of an open attempt.
In just the second minute of action, freshman Karina Rodriguez nearly put the Spartans on top. Hein found her with a pass from the left wing, and Rodriguez lined up a wide-open attempt from about 12 yards out. Her attempt went just high, however.
In the second frame, Player and sophomore Ashlee Wilhelmsen both had solid chances but couldn't get shots off. Early in the half, Player found herself all alone on a breakaway, but Georgia's defense quickly recovered to keep the redshirt senior from getting off an attempt. Later, Player sent in a nice cross from the right wing that found Wilhelmsen inside the 18, but the Bulldog defense quickly swarmed Wilhelmsen and was able to clear the ball without a real threat.
UNCG keeper Kelsey Kearney made five saves on the evening, including an outstanding leaping save on a Newfield attempt in the 59th minute.
Spartan defender Casey Godwin also came up with a timely team save, clearing a Jamie Pollock shot off the line in the 49th minute.
Baker had two saves for the Bulldogs.
With nonconference play in the books, UNCG has faced what has to be one of the toughest schedules in the country thus far with four games against Atlantic Coast Conference teams and two against Southeastern Conference teams. Four of the six games UNCG has lost have been to ranked opponents.
"I feel great about our team," Nugent said. "I love what's going on in our locker room. We're 1-6. We know what the conference means to us. We know what every game in the conference means to us. These players are passionate about UNCG soccer, and when Chattanooga comes to town Friday, they'd better be ready for a war."
The Spartans open Southern Conference play against Chattanooga on Friday, Sept. 23, at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. The contest begins at 7 p.m. and admission is free.