Western Carolina 1, UNC Wilmington 0
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Senior forward Emily Lynn scored the only goal of the game in the 73rd minute and junior keeper Katie Jacobs recorded seven saves to lift Western Carolina (5-2-1) to a 1-0 victory over UNCW (2-6) in the final game of the 2011 UNCW Hilton Garden Inn Sunday at the UNCW Soccer Stadium.
Lynn was named to the Hilton Garden Inn Mayfaire Invitational All-Tournament Team. It was Lynn's first goal of the season.
"This game was a real gut check for the team," said Head Coach Chad Miller. "We really turned it around after our play on Friday."
Western Carolina has now won four of its last six games with a tie in the mix. It is also the third shutout registered by the Catamounts and goalie Jacobs in the last four games.
Western Carolina notched the only goal of the game at 72:00 mark, as Lynn used a through ball from sophomore Christine Kaznowski to get behind the Seahawks defense before placing a shot just inside the left post from 15 yards out for her first goal of the season.
UNCW had a chance to tie the game just moments after the Catamounts strike, as the Seahawks were awarded a penalty kick in the 74th minute when senior Kelly Dodd was tackled inside the box.
Jacobs kept UNCW off the board however as she made a diving save to her left to deny the initial attempt by junior Stephanie Rose before scrambling to her feet to stop Rose again on the ensuing rebound.
"Katie had a big stop for us with the PK,' Miller said. "It was a huge play to keep UNCW from tying up the game."
In a scoreless first half, Catamounts freshman Savannah Ward had the best opportunity to open the scoring as she rang a shot off the right post from point-blank range in the 34th minute.
UNCW held a 13-6 shot advantage in the contest, highlighted by an 8-2 edge in the second half. Western Carolina enjoyed a slim 5-4 margin in corner kicks taken. Junior Caitlin Hunter recorded two stops between the pipes for UNCW.
Western Carolina opens play in the Southern Conference on Friday, September 23, at the Citadel with kick-off scheduled for 4 p.m.
Appalachian State 3, High Point 2
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Junior Meggie Graham (Marietta, Ga. / Walton) netted the winning goal as Appalachian State women's soccer (4-4-0) outlasted High Point (2-6-1) in a 3-2 game on Sunday.
It took three and a half minutes for Appalachian to get on the scoreboard. Hannah Coad (Alpharetta, Ga. / Blessed Trinity) fired an initial shot that bounced back off the crossbar. Freshman Julia Holz (Marietta, Ga. / Walton) retrieved the rebound and sent the ball home for her third goal of the season.
High Point responded in the 18th minute with a shot that narrowly caught the inside of the goal post to level the score at 1-1.
A few minutes later, Mountaineer Sam McVeigh (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Country Day) served a long pass down the middle and found senior Katy Dodd (Apex, N.C. / Apex), who connected on her second goal of the year.
In the 27th, the Panthers answered back and evaded ASU keeper Amy Kolowsky (Columbia, S.C. / Spring Valley) to even the game at 2-2.
Graham's decisive goal came a few minutes into the second half. Sydney Hill (Alpharetta, Ga. / South Carolina) assisted on her second goal of the year after serving Graham, whose shot was partially deflected but still found the back of the net for the 3-2 lead.
The remainder of the game was tense, but Appalachian pulled out the victory to level its overall record at 4-4-0. ASU outshot the Panthers 9-8 on the day; Kolowsky finished with two saves in goal.
"We did a great job creating chances today," observes coach Sarah Strickland. "We had some creative attacks, worked hard on both sides of the ball and had a great final 15. Katy Dodd's efforts to put the ball away on her goal demonstrated great leadership. Our whole team genuinely played a part in finishing with a .500 non-conference record, and we're looking forward to the SoCon schedule."
Having concluded its non-conference slate, Appalachian now prepares to take on the College of Charleston in its next match on Friday, Sept. 23.
Furman 2, Stetson 0
DeLand, Fla. -- Freshman Kristin Fennegan and senior Rachel Shelnutt each tallied second half goals to lead Furman to a 2-0 victory at Stetson in non-conference women's soccer action on Sunday afternoon.
The victory, Furman's third in its last four matches, improved the Paladins to 5-4-0. Stetson dropped to 1-6-1 on the season.
"It was great to bounce back from a tough loss on Friday and get a win today," said Furman head coach Andrew Burr. "We defended well to get the shutout and Caitlin Shelton did an excellent job of leading our backline."
Furman opened the match on the attack creating several chances in the opening minutes. Hannah Stanifer forced Stetson goalkeeper Grace Turner into an early save and Shelnutt called Turner into action twice in the final 15 minutes of the half. Freshman Nnemdilim Ubezonu came close to scoring with less than eight minutes to play in the first period, but had her close range shot saved off of the line by a Stetson defender.
The Paladins finally broke through in the 61st minute when Fennegan netted the first goal of her collegiate career. Dee Makris fed the ball to Shelnutt who slotted a pass behind the back line to Fennegan on a diagonal run. The Harlingen, Texas, native collected the pass and ripped a left-footed shot past Turner at 60:46 mark.
It took Furman less than five minutes to double the lead as Fennegan and Shelnutt combined again. Shelnutt beat her defender and received a pass from Fennegan before firing past Turner for her third goal of the campaign at 65:14.
Senior Jessica Smith and freshman Holly Reilly combined in goal to notch the shutout for the Paladins as each keeper registered a pair of saves. Turner totaled three saves for Stetson.
Furman managed a 7-6 edge in shot attempts on goal and 7-5 advantage in corner kicks.
The Paladins open Southern Conference play on Friday evening when they host the Davidson Wildcats at Stone Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Davidson 1, Charlotte 1 (2 OT)
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Julie Calhoun (Palos Verdes, Calif.) scored her second career collegiate goal and goalkeeper Rachel Locke (Carlsbad, Calif.) came up with some big saves throughout the game as they helped the Wildcats play to a 1-1 draw with cross-county rival Charlotte on Sunday evening at Alumni Stadium in Davidson's last non-conference women's soccer game.
Davidson (2-4-2) halted its two-match losing streak in the series, improving to 3-10-2 all-time against Charlotte.
Calhoun gave the ‘Cats an early 1-0 lead when she scored on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute, but the 49ers (2-5-3) netted the tying goal in the 77th minute on a header from Amanda Jones, who received a pass from Jonna Handra off a free kick that was just outside the 18-yard box.
Freshman Rachel Locke (Carlsbad, Calif.) made her second straight start between the pipes and registered a season-best nine saves in all 110 minutes.
Both teams were aggressive in the shots department, firing off a combined 41 of them, with the ‘Cats getting off 16 shots and putting seven on goal.
Davidson takes to the road to open Southern Conference play next weekend when it plays at Furman and Wofford, Sept. 23-25.
Elon 0, Liberty 0 (2 OT)
LYNCHBURG, Va. - In its final non-conference match of the season, the Elon University women's soccer team battled for 110 minutes, but came to a scoreless draw against the Liberty Flames on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 18, at Osborne Stadium. Elon moves to 2-4-2 with the result, while Liberty goes to 1-3-2.
Both teams were evenly matched in the draw, as Elon took 10 shots (five on goal) while the Flames registered 11 shots (three on goal). Both squads took five corner kicks in the match.
Following her two-goal performance against High Point on Friday night at Rudd Field, rookie Bethany Houpt registered two shots for the Phoenix (one on goal) in the tie, while sophomore Olivia Mackey also took two shots (one on goal).
Rookie Kate Murphy earned the start between the posts for the Phoenix and played 45 minutes without any action. Junior Shannon Cosgrove finished the game in-goal and tallied three saves in 65 minutes.
Mackey nearly gave the Phoenix a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute of the match, but her header was saved by the Flames to keep the game scoreless.
Junior captain Jaclyn Wood was the only other player on either side to get off a shot in the first half, as her strike in the ninth minute was blocked by Liberty.
The Flames wasted no time attempting to break the scoreless tie just after intermission, as Liberty got off four shots in a span of 15 seconds in the 52nd minute. But the Elon defense held its ground, as a pair of blocks and a save by Cosgrove kept the Flames at bay.
The Phoenix managed just three shots in the second half, two of which were blocked by the Flames off the foot of sophomore Simi Dhaliwal.
In the first 10-minute overtime, the Elon defense again held off the Liberty offense, as a missed header in the 110th minute by the Flames and two shots missed wide pushed the match to a second OT.
The Phoenix had an opportunity to win the match in the 106th minute, but sophomore Catherine Brinkman's shot was blocked by the Flames and a follow-up attempt by Mackey landed wide of the goal.
Elon opens up Southern Conference play on Friday night, Sept. 23, at Rudd Field when the Phoenix hosts Samford at 7 p.m.
Vanderbilt 2, Samford 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. --- In its final nonconference match of the 2011 regular season, the Samford University soccer team dropped a hard-fought 2-0 decision on the road against the Vanderbilt Commodores Sunday at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex.
The teams battled for nearly 75 minutes without a goal before Vanderbilt (6-2) tallied its game-winning score at 74:45. The Commodores' Dana Schwartz tallied the decisive goal on an assist from Duggan Hahn. Vanderbilt tacked on its second score of the match at 86:32 from Gena Inbusch.
Samford (2-5) faced its fifth Southeastern Conference opponent of the 2011 campaign Sunday. Earlier this year, the Bulldogs squared off against Tennessee, Mississippi State, Alabama and No. 23-ranked Auburn.
Against Vanderbilt, Samford's goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead tallied a match-high five saves. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-3 senior from Hattiesburg, Miss., has compiled 45 saves this season.
Samford's offensive attack Sunday was bolstered by true freshman Amanda Abbott and junior forward Kaley Blanton. Both Abbott and Blanton registered shots on-goal in the contest, while sophomore Michelle Moll and Adrianne Mancino also added shot attempts.
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m., as the Bulldogs begin their Southern Conference schedule on the road against the Elon Phoenix. The key SoCon showdown will be held at Elon's Rudd Field.