Appalachian State 2, Chattanooga 1 (OT)

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Freshman Samantha Childress’ golden goal in the 100th minute clinched Appalachian State’s women’s soccer team’s 2-1 victory over Southern Conference opponent Chattanooga on Friday night at Finley Stadium.

After a back-and-forth start to the overtime period, App State was given a free kick right outside the Chattanooga box. Childress lined up the shot and fired the ball into the box, beating UTC keeper Lauren Thomas and giving the freshman her third game-winning goal of the season.

With the key conference victory, the Mountaineers extended their SoCon winning streak to four matches, moving to 4-1 in league play and 7-5 overall. The Mocs fell to 2-8-1 on the year and 0-4 in the conference.

The winning streak is the first four-match conference winning streak since 2001 and the first time Appalachian has won three overtime matches in a season. The Mountaineers beat the previous record of two overtime victories that was set a year ago.

UTC began the match with a lot of pressure on the App State back line, committing three offside violations and a shot on goal in the opening 11 minutes. As the match balanced out, the Mountaineers were first to get on the scoreboard in the 35th minute when sophomore forward Julia Holz knocked in a rebound for her team-high fifth goal of the season, matching her goal total from a season ago. Junior forward Jamie Lockie was credited with the assist.

The Mountaineers took the 1-0 lead into halftime, outshooting the Mocs 10-1 for the opening 45 minutes. Holz fired two shots on goal, while Lockie also troubled Thomas.

In the second half, the back line shined, keeping Chattanooga scoreless for the majority of the half. With the Mountaineers seemingly about to claim their fifth shutout of the season, the Mocs were awarded a penalty kick in the 87th minute. UTC’s Becca Smith tallied her fourth goal of the season, beating Appalachian goalkeeper Megan Roberson to knot the score at 1-1 and send the game to overtime.

The victory was Appalachian State’s 13th all-time over Chattanooga as the Mountaineers control the series with a 13-3-3 record.

Appalachian State outshot Chattanooga 19-6 with an 8-5 shots on goal advantage. Thomas recorded six saves on the night while Roberson made four grabs, including one in overtime, for the Mountaineers.

The Black and Gold carry their winning streak into their next conference matchup on Sunday when the Apps travel to Samford. Kickoff from Birmingham is set for 3 p.m. Eastern. The Mocs will return to the pitch Sunday afternoon hosting Western Carolina. The match is set to kick off at 2 p.m.

 

Samford 3, Western Carolina 2

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The first-place Samford women’s soccer team used goals from Michelle Moll, Amanda Abbott and Trine Taule on Friday to defeat the Western Carolina Catamounts, 3-2, in a key Southern Conference tilt held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

With the win, Samford (7-5-1, 4-0-1 SoCon) remained undefeated in conference play this season and extended its undefeated streak against SoCon opponents to 19 consecutive matches. The Bulldogs have not been beaten by a conference rival in nearly two years, dating back to Nov. 7, 2010.

Midway through the second half of Friday’s contest, the score of the match was knotted at 2-2. Samford’s Abbott had just given the Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage in the 59th minute of play, but Western Carolina (5-7-1, 1-3-1 SoCon) quickly answered with a goal from McKenzie Hallstrom at 62:14 to even the score at 2-2.

The second half continued to be a back-and-forth battle featuring quality scoring chances from both sides when Samford’s Taule headed home the game-winning goal with less than 21 minutes remaining. On the Bulldogs’ pretty, decisive score, sophomore Ariane Lukens sent in a deep centering pass from the right flank that Taule perfectly timed and headed home to the left of the goalkeeper.

The goal was Taule’s third of the 2012 season and the 14th of her Samford career. With her score, the Bulldogs’ junior native of Frekhaug, Norway, moved into a tie for ninth place on the school’s all-time goals list. Lukens, Samford’s sophomore transfer from South Carolina, registered her first Bulldog assist on the play.

Following Taule’s decisive goal, Western Carolina continued its high-tempo offensive attack and Bulldogs goalkeeper Melissa Montgomery was able to come up with some huge saves. Montgomery, a sophomore, improved her record in goal this season to 5-1-1 and finished the victory with two stops.

Western Carolina suffered its third consecutive loss Friday and dropped to 1-5-1 against Samford. Since recording their lone victory against the Bulldogs in 2008, the Catamounts have lost four straight matches versus Samford.

In the 33rd minute of the match, Western Carolina’s Christine Kaznowski registered her second goal of the season to give her squad an early 1-0 lead.

Less than five minutes later, Samford’s Moll drilled home a cannon-like shot from 35 yards out to even the score at 1-1. Moll’s goal, which was taken from the middle of the field, proved to be a line drive that never got above eight feet off the ground and was placed neatly into the upper right corner of the goal.

The unassisted score was Moll’s third of the 2012 season.

Early in the second half, Samford’s Abbott scored her third goal of the year to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage. On her goal, Abbott placed an arcing, hooking shot from 10 yards out that was just over the head of Western Carolina’s goalkeeper, Jennifer Lauer.

Samford’s match Friday also marked the Bulldogs’ annual “Kickin' it for Kids with Cancer” game. The athletic department raised nearly $2,000 by auctioning off the game-worn green jerseys starting at $40.

“Kickin' it for Kids with Cancer” T-shirts were also sold for a donation of $5, while concession cups and green Celebrate Home Candles were also sold for $5. All proceeds went to benefit the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs continue their key conference homestand versus the Appalachian State Mountaineers at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium. Western Carolina will head to Chattanooga for a 2 p.m. (EDT) start Sunday.

 

Furman 1, UNCG 1 (2OT)

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman outshot UNCG 26-12, but Spartan goalkeeper Jamie Simmons recorded 15 saves, including a diving stop of Martha Hall’s penalty kick in double overtime, as the schools played to a 1-1 draw in Southern Conference women’s soccer action on Friday night at Stone Stadium.

Despite the draw, Furman (9-2-2, 2-1-2 SoCon) extended its home unbeaten streak to 11 matches, but the Paladins saw their nine-match home winning streak come to an end.  The tie moved the Spartans, who had won their last six regular-season contests versus Furman, to 6-6-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the SoCon play.

Furman jumped into the lead at the 58:40 mark when India Robinson slipped a thru ball to freshman Stephanie DeVita streaking down the left channel behind the UNCG defense.  DeVita ran onto the pass and deposited her shot into the far side netting inside the right post for her league-leading 14th goal of the season.

UNCG came up with an almost immediate answer.  Furman goalkeeper Rose Hull and a Paladin defender had a miscommunication on a bouncing ball inside the six-yard box, forcing Hull to leap and touch the ball over the crossbar.  On the ensuing corner kick, Cat Barnekow wrapped the kick into the near-side, upper right-hand corner off of Hull’s hands for the equalizer at 60:40.

The Paladins forced Simmons into three saves in the final 13 minutes of the half before the match headed to overtime.  In the first extra period, Jamie Alexander worked her way behind the back line down the left side only to see Simmons turn away her shot in a one-versus-one situation with the Spartan keeper.

After DeVita had her header stopped by Simmons in the opening seconds of overtime, it looked like Furman might have found the break it needed when the Paladins were awarded a penalty kick at the 101:58 mark.  Alexander attempted to run onto a bouncing ball on the right side of the box and missed making contact with the ball, but she and a UNCG defender collided, with the Paladins being granted a spot kick.  Hall stepped up for the penalty, but her shot just a few feet to the keeper’s right was blocked.  Hall retrieved the ball with an open net, but the senior fired high from inside seven yards.

The Paladins managed a 16-8 edge in shots on goal and compiled a 7-2 advantage in shots during overtime.  Hull stopped seven shots for the Paladins.

Furman will host league rival Elon on Sunday at Stone Stadium.  Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. UNCG will take on Wofford in Spartanburg, S.C., at 2 p.m.

 

Wofford 0, Elon 0 (2OT)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women’s soccer team fought the Elon Phoenix to a 0-0 double-overtime draw Friday night at Snyder Field.

After the tie, the Terriers now stand at 6-5-1 and 1-3-1 in the SoCon.  Elon earned its fifth tie of the season and are 3-6-5 overall and 1-1-3 in conference play.

The game was a very balanced affair as both teams were led by strong defensive performances and great goalie play.  Elon thought it had taken the lead in the seventh minute when Shannon Foley sent a header off the crossbar.  However, the ball deflected down at the goal line but did not cross and Wofford was able to clear the danger.

The rest of the first half was rather uneventful as both teams were unable to create any quality chances.  Wofford held the edge in shots (5-4) and corners taken (4-2) as the teams headed to the locker room tied at zero.

The second half was much of the same as both teams were still unable to find a breakthrough.  Elon held the edge in shots (7-3) for the second half, but Wofford took more corners (4-0).

In the first period of extra time, Wofford took the only shot but was unable to beat Phoenix goalkeeper Kate Murphy.  Elon would take a corner later in the period but it would sail harmlessly out of bounds.

In the second overtime, each team would take one shot but neither would be on target.  After 110 minutes of play, the game would end in a 0-0 draw.

Kimberly Cohn earned the shutout for Wofford and improved to 0-1-1.  She recorded five saves on 12 shots faced. Murphy also recorded a shutout to bring her record to 3-5-4.  She made four saves on 10 shots.

Wofford returns to the pitch Sunday to host the Spartans of UNCG at 2 p.m. at Snyder Field. Elon will head to Greenville, S.C., to battle with Furman at 2 p.m.