Western Carolina 2, Winthrop 1
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Western Carolina women's soccer team picked up its first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Winthrop (0-1) Sunday at Eagle Field.
The Catamounts' oppressive offensive pressure in the final 25 minutes of the first half resulted in two goals. After its struggles with finding its mark on the goal its previous two games, Western Carolina's dogged tenacity against the Eagles bore fruit.
Before Western Carolina's first goal, the Catamounts (1-2) got three quality looks at the goal starting at the 18:47 mark. Senior Samantha Hodge got free about eight yards in front of the goal, but her shot was blocked by an Eagle player. Less than four seconds later, sophomore Madison Lee's shot attempt sailed over the goal, and at 21:54 Christine Kaznowski got free and sent a shot that just missed the goal, sailing to the left of the goal post.
The Western Carolina pressure finally wore on Winthrop six minutes later when a cross inside the 18-yard mark deflected off the heel of an Eagle player and rolled in for an own goal at the 27:10 mark. It was the first own goal of the season for Western Carolina.
Kaznowski, who had just missed a scoring chance earlier in the game, found her mark at 36:15. Kaznowski took a beautiful cross from Mackenzie Cole outside of 20 yards and sent it into the back of the goal.
Western Carolina had 10 shots in the first half and ended the game with 18.
Winthrop continued to fight and put on some offensive pressure of its own in the second half. Although Western Carolina's defense stymied most of the Eagles' offensive threats, Winthrop did manage to cut the score in half with a goal at 66:21. The Eagles' Krystyna Freda sent a cross to Deven Puckett, who passed it to Lia Gordon for the score.
For the remainder of the game, Western Carolina turned on its defensive pressure, enjoying its first lead in a match in the youthful season, and making sure Winthrop failed to get a quality look at the goal again. The strategy paid off as the Catamounts strolled away with the road victory and a 1-1 record over the weekend of matches.
Winthrop had 11 shots, with Catamount senior goalie Katie Jacobs coming up with eight saves in the match. Jacobs also picked up her first win of the season in goal.
Western Carolina hosts Albany at 7 p.m. Friday in its home opener.
Davidson 2, Tennessee Tech 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Sophomore Julia Singley and junior Tori Krause guided the Wildcats to their first win of 2012 with single goals in the first half and Davidson dominated Tennessee Tech throughout the contest in picking up a 2-0 win on Sunday at Alumni Stadium in women's soccer.
Singley and Krause had a combined four of Davidson's 23 shots on the afternoon as it controlled possession the majority of the game against the Golden Eagles, who fell to 1-2-1 on the season.
Singley's goal came off a rebound shot from Stephanie Piperno six minutes into the game and Krause tacked on an insurance goal at the 25:14 mark of the first half. It was the junior's second career score, which came on an impressive shot between midfield and the 18-yard box.
Goalkeeper Ranae Carins registered her first collegiate win and shutout.
Davidson (1-1-0) takes to the road for a pair of contests next weekend against East Carolina and UNCW. The 'Cats will look to avenge last year's two 2-1 defeats at home to the Pirates and Seahawks.
Furman 1, Troy 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Freshman Stephanie DeVita headed in the only goal of the match in the 85th minute as Furman topped the Troy Trojans, 1-0, in nonconference women's soccer action on Sunday afternoon at Stone Stadium.
With the victory, the second of the weekend for the Paladins, Furman improved to 3-1-0 on the season. Troy slipped to 3-2-0.
Furman pelted Troy goalkeeper Maddie Winter all afternoon, but the Paladins were forced to wait until the 84:50 mark to find a breakthrough goal. India Robinson found space out wide on the left side and lined a cross toward the middle of the six-yard box, where DeVita hammered a header past Winter for her third match-winner of the season and second of the weekend.
The Paladins, who limited the Trojans to just two total shots in 90 minutes of play, attempted 31 total shots, including 13 shots on goal. The home side had its chances to score on several occasions in the first half as freshman Natalie Lackey rattled the right post and DeVita directed a header over the bar off of a Lackey cross.
Another Lackey cross in the second half was hammered off of the bar by DeVita before the Simpsonville, S.C., native produced the match-winning tally with 5:10 remaining.
Winter finished with 11 saves in the loss for Troy while freshman Maggie Grisell notched the victory in goal and the only save for the Paladins after entering the match to begin the second half.
Furman has a week off before traveling to Clinton, S.C., to face the Presbyterian College Blue Hose on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Martin Stadium.
UNCG 7, UNC Asheville 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Scoring its most goals since the 2007 season, the UNCG women's soccer team improved to 2-1-0 on the year with a 7-0 victory over UNC Asheville on Sunday afternoon at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
The Spartans' seven goals scored were their most since posting a 7-0 victory over The Citadel on Oct. 18, 2007.
Redshirt senior forward Cat Barnekow scored two goals and handed out an assist to lead the Spartans to victory. The five points scored tied Barnekow's career mark for a single game, matching her five-point output against Georgia Southern on Oct. 1, 2010.
Freshman forward Tabitha McHale scored her first two career goals, finding the back of the net in the 73rd and 83rd minutes.
The Spartans started the scoring in the fourth minute. Sophomore Ashley Stokes made a nice cross to freshman Zoe Fishman, whose shot was saved by UNC Asheville goalkeeper Heather Muller. On the rebound, Barnekow scored to give UNCG a 1-0 lead.
Just two minutes later, the Blue and Gold made it 2-0 after senior Karin Sendel scored a one-touch goal on a perfect cross from teammate Barnekow.
UNCG continued its early pressure after Fishman made a run and crossed a ball into the box that classmate Chesney White put home for her second goal of the season.
In the 35 minute, redshirt junior Nitang Jones took a corner kick and immediately passed to freshman Mallory Ullrich, who lined a perfect left-footed strike into the net for the fourth goal of the half.
The Spartans ended the first half with 15 shots and five corner kicks, while holding UNC Asheville to just three shots and zero corners.
In the second half, UNCG would continue to attack as Fishman placed another cross into the box that found Barnekow, who headed home her second goal of the contest.
McHale closed out the scoring with two goals late in the game. Fishman finished with five shots, two on frame, and a team-high three assists.
Freshman Candice Forbes was robbed on a couple of occasions as she had a game-high eight shots with six on goal.
The Spartans finished the game with 30 shots and eight corner kicks. Freshmen Jamie Simmons and Jesse McGinley each finished a half in goal to keep the shutout.
UNCG returns to action next weekend to take part in the UK Tropical Smoothie Invitational in Lexington, Ky., where they will face Kentucky and Louisville.
Appalachian State 1, Belmont 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Appalachian State University women's soccer earned its first win of the season as junior defender Amy Werdine's goal in the 83rd minute lifted the Mountaineers to a 1-0 victory over Belmont on Sunday afternoon at a humid Rose Park.
With the victory, head coach Sarah Strickland moved into second place for all-time wins at Appalachian, passing Tracy Davis.
Freshman goalkeeper Megan Roberson, in her first career start, tallied her first victory and shutout, stopping four shots.
The first half saw just two shots combined by both teams, as the paced picked up in the second half when three shots on goal were fired by the teams in the first 15 minutes, highlighted by sophomore forward Jenna Caudle's chance in the 56th minute.
After a save by Roberson in the 77th minute, Werdine found room in the BU defense and headed in a rebound past Belmont goalkeeper Nicole Berner for the second goal of her career.
Roberson recorded another save in the 86th minute as the Mountaineer defense closed out the remaining minutes of the match to solidify the 1-0 victory.
With the temperature reaching 90 degrees, both teams struggled offensively as the Mountaineers were outshot by the Bruins, 6-4. Caudle paced Appalachian with two shots. Freshman Kebrina Keys also tallied a shot.
The Apps will be back on the pitch when they open their home schedule on Friday when they host High Point. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.
Georgia Southern 1, High Point 1
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern's women's soccer team continued its best start in over a decade with a 1-1 draw against High Point on Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field.
The Panthers scored in the 21st minute, but freshman Nora El-Shami scored her second goal in the last two matches to level the teams in the final 15 minutes of the match.
The Eagles are an unbeaten 2-0-1 on the season, good for the program's best start since the 2000 season, when GSU rattled off 11 straight wins to open the year.
High Point drew first blood in the 21st minute when Becca Hemby headed home her fourth goal of the season off a corner kick in the box. She tallied five total shots in the contest, all on frame, but it was her goal that gave the Panthers an early 1-0 lead.
That goal ended the Eagles' string of 200 minutes without allowing a goal to start the year. Georgia Southern's goalkeeper, Katie Merson, battled back, making 10 saves on the afternoon to keep the Eagles in the contest.
In the 75th minute, El-Shami worked her magic in scoring the equalizer. The freshman worked the ball into the corner with teammate Stephanie Gratto, but it was El-Shami that took the ball past three High Point defenders and earned some space on the near side of the 18-yard box. Dribbling toward goal, she delivered an arcing finesse shot that found the upper corner of the net past a diving Panther goalkeeper.
With time running out in regulation, Merson made a spectacular save in the final minute to ensure the match went to overtime. In the extra frames, Merson was called on early as High Point took the opening kickoff directly down the field, forcing the netminder to make two saves in the first 20 seconds of the period.
Ultimately, the physical match finished in a 1-1 draw with 40 total fouls called, 25 against the Eagles and 15 on the Panthers' ledger.
Georgia Southern is back on the road this weekend with a pair of games on Florida's First Coast. GSU faces North Florida on Friday at 6 p.m. before facing Jacksonville on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Bryant 5, The Citadel 1
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Mariana Garcia netted her second goal in two games as the Bulldogs fell to Bryant 5-1 to close out the weekend at Bulldog Stadium in Smithfield, R.I.
For the second consecutive game, the combination of Anastasia Mesa to Garcia resulted in an early goal as Garcia railed in a seventh-minute score to give The Citadel (0-2) a quick 1-0 lead. The goal was the 19th of Garcia's career, leaving her just nine shy of the school record and two short of 2011 team captain Amy Loughran.
The Bulldogs would only hold the lead for a short time as Bryant (2-1) struck back quickly with a 10th-minute equalizer on a 25-yard shot to the low post by Carolyn Giuliano. Strong defense carried both teams into the half with the score knotted at one goal apiece.
Bryant came out in the second half and immediately broke the tie on a deflected goal by an Ari Goldberg shot in the 48th minute.
Three more goals would find the back of the net in the second half for Bryant as it outshot The Citadel 13-3 in the final 45 minutes and 18-11 overall.
Palmacci played all 90 minutes in goal, allowing five goals while collecting four saves.
The Bulldogs will head to Raleigh, N.C., for an evening contest against N.C. State on Friday at 7 p.m.
Alabama State 1, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga soccer team dropped a 1-0 match to visiting Alabama State at Finley Stadium on Sunday. The Lady Mocs outshot the Lady Hornets 21-6 but gave up the only score of the game on a free kick in the 62nd minute.
For the second straight match, UTC (1-2) controlled the offensive flow but was beaten on a counterattack. The Lady Mocs outshot Tennessee Tech 14-10 last week, only to lose 2-0. This afternoon, Chattanooga forced Alabama State keeper Kylee Hathaway to make seven saves but could not put away a score.
The Lady Mocs opened with 14 shots in the first half. Six of those were on-frame, including three shots on-goal from senior Becca Smith. Smith had four good looks from inside the box in the first 11 minutes, including one that was cleared off the line by an ASU defender. She finished with a game-high six shots.
Alabama State nearly took the lead in the 29th minute after a defensive breakdown. The Lady Mocs backline could not control a long ball into the box and Hornet forward Anastasia McCleary got free past the keeper. She had an open net but hurried her attempt and missed wide to the right.
After the break, UTC came out firing again with four shots and a pair of corner kicks in the first 15 minutes. However, Alabama State was able to counter against the Lady Mocs' forward push. UTC defender Logan Higgins had to chase down an Alabama State player on the right side. She tripped up the Lady Hornet and received a yellow card that stopped play.
ASU's Alexandria Cannon took the ensuing free kick and sent a perfect cross to the far post. The ball bounced around and right to the foot of India Pleasant, who tucked it away for the 1-0 lead. That was one of only two shots on-goal by ASU, but it was all the Lady Hornets needed for the win.
Chattanooga had chances throughout the second half. Sophomore Crystal Mackezyk hit the crossbar in the 60th minute and freshman Hannah Wyatt had a good look in the 69th.
UTC's best chances were in the closing moments. In the 89th minute, senior Kelsey Swann sent a nice pass down the left side in the box to freshman Loryn Queen. Queen crossed the ball to classmate Clare Latham, who was in the middle of the box. She got a good foot on the ball, but Hathaway made a great save to keep the lead.
Moments later, Wyatt got free in the box behind the defense. She looked like she was going to tie the match with seconds left to go in regulation but hit the far post. The goal would not have counted anyway, as the assistant referee had correctly raised his flag for offside.
All totaled, Chattanooga earned eight corner kicks while only allowing one. Only 13 fouls were called in the match with seven going against the Lady Mocs.
Chattanooga hits the road this weekend with a trip to the Nashville area. UTC faces Lipscomb on Friday at 8 p.m. (EDT) in Nashville, Tenn. The Lady Mocs then head to Clarksville, Tenn., for a Sunday matchup at Austin Peay that starts at 3 p.m.