UNCG 6, Chattanooga 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Redshirt senior Kristin Player turned in a seven-point night and had a hand in UNCG's first five goals as the Spartans remained perfect in Southern Conference openers with a 6-1 Homecoming win over Chattanooga at the UNCG Soccer Stadium on Saturday.
Player scored two goals and notched three assists, matching her career high in assists and setting a new personal standard for points in a game. She narrowly missed a hat trick, curling a shot just wide late in the game.
"Kristin Player was great," UNCG coach Steve Nugent said. "I thought all of our forwards tonight had great mobility and were running off the ball. We spent three days this week working on the final third. We spent a lot of time on it this week and it's no doubt that it paid off tonight."
Sophomore Ashlee Wilhelmsen scored the first two goals of her career, adding an assist for a career-best five-point day.
UNCG (2-6-0, 1-0-0 SoCon), which improved to 15-0-0 in league openers since joining the SoCon in 1997, jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on Karin Sendel's second-minute strike. Player got the play started in the midfield, switching fields to find Lauren Lover on the right wing. Lover sent a cross in that Sendel nodded home at the 1:54 mark.
Chattanooga answered in the 16th minute, with Becca Smith chipping a pass over the UNCG defense to find Donna-Kay Henry in stride. Henry did the rest, shooting from the right side of the box and off of UNCG keeper Kelsey Kearney's fingertips to draw the Mocs (5-2-1, 0-1-0 SoCon) even.
Player scored what would prove to be the game-winner in the 25th minute, finding herself in the right place at the right time for her first goal of the season. After Kaytee O'Brien lofted a cross in from the left wing, the ball ricocheted off of Karina Rodriguez right to Player's feet about two yards in front of the goal. Player knocked it home to make it 2-1.
The Spartans closed the first half in style, with Wilhelmsen scoring her first collegiate goals just over three minutes apart. Nitang Jones and Player picked up assists on the first one, with Player sending a pass in from the right touchline that Wilhelmsen ran onto and pounded home in the 40th minute.
Player and Wilhelmsen connected again in the 43rd, with Player sending a thru ball to Wilhelmsen in the midfield and Wilhelmsen slotting a shot home lower right corner to stake UNCG to a 4-1 halftime lead.
The Spartans kept the pedal down in the second half, pushing their lead to 5-1 on Player's second goal in the 55th minute. Wilhelmsen assisted on the play, finding Player with a ball in the box that Player juggled to herself a couple of times and banged home.
Rodriguez capped the scoring in the 77th minute, notching her first career goal after Chattanooga keeper Taylor Mangrum couldn't wrap up a loose ball in the box. Rodriguez pounced on the ball and fired into the empty net to make it 6-1.
UNCG outshot the Mocs 27-9 on the evening, but Chattanooga did have a couple of solid scoring chances. Just 48 seconds into the contest, Smith fired a point-blank shot off the left post. Later in the first half, Smith took a free kick from a couple of feet outside the 18-yard box that sailed just high.
Kaitlyn Bennett also had a promising scoring chance, as her looping shot just cleared the crossbar.
Kearney earned the win in the net for UNCG, allowing one goal and making one save in 45 minutes of work. Alex Perry worked the final 45 in her first action of the season.
Mangrum allowed six goals and made six saves.
The Spartans return to action Monday at noon, when they will host Samford for a showdown between the top two teams in the preseason SoCon poll. UNCG and Samford played for the SoCon tournament title last year, with the Spartans topping the Bulldogs 1-0.
Elon 1, Samford 1 (2 OT)
ELON, N.C. - The Elon women's soccer team played to a draw in its second consecutive match as the Phoenix and Samford Bulldogs opened Southern Conference play with a 1-1 tie under steady rainfall at Rudd Field on Saturday night. Elon moved to 2-4-3 overall, 0-0-1 in the league while Samford left Elon with a 2-5-1 mark and a 0-0-1 record in the SoCon.
"Conditions weren't perfect and either team could have won the game tonight," said Elon head coach Chris Neal. "Both teams worked hard and had their spells tonight, but I'm extremely proud of our girls."
The Bulldogs took a 1-0 advantage in the 13th minute after Joy Grove found Sarah Wilkinson on the left side inside the box. Wilkinson blasted a shot off the crossbar from 11-yards out and into the goal for the score.
But the Phoenix answered in the 25th minute after Simi Dhaliwal dribbled through a goalie challenge by Samford's Alyssa Whitehead and landed a shot in the goal from eight yards out to knot it at 1-all.
Samford outshot Elon 5-4 in the opening frame and claimed a 1-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Junior goalie Shannon Cosgrove made a great save in 75th minute to keep the match tied after she tipped a Grove shot headed for the top of the net out of play to give the Bulldogs a corner kick.
Elon made a run late after getting a pair of corner kicks with under three minutes to play, but the Samford defense managed to keep the Phoenix attack at bay to push the game to overtime.
Elon's lone shot in the first overtime came off the foot of junior Shannon Foley, but her strike in the 100th minute was saved by Whitehead to keep the match scoreless.
The Phoenix held a 13-11 edge in the shot column. Cosgrove and Kate Murphy split time in the goal with each keeper making three saves. Samford took five corner kicks to Elon's four.
Elon continues SoCon action when it hosts Chattanooga on Monday afternoon, Sept. 26, at 1:30 p.m.