Wofford 4, Chattanooga 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Wofford scored three first-half goals in route to a 4-0 victory over Chattanooga Thursday night. The Terriers improved to 6-4-0 and 1-2 in the SoCon, while Chattanooga dropped to 2-6-1 and 0-3 in SoCon play.

In the first half, three different Terriers found the back of the net. In the 20th minute, Mary Beth Bleekrode found Amanda Morris at the back post, and Morris was able to score past Chattanooga keeper Haley Myers. The goal was her first of the season the second of her career.

Wofford would double its lead in the 40th minute when Annika Jannson and Vicki Hill assisted on Chelsea Turner’s first career goal. Jannson played the ball to Hill, who laid it off to Turner, who was able to take a quick touch and fire a shot from 18 yards into the bottom left corner of the net.

Wofford would score again less than a minute later. After an initial block on her free kick, Maureen Buff fired a shot on goal that was deflected to Chloe Brackett, who was able to score past Myers. It was Brackett’s first career goal and Buff’s fifth assist of the season. At the break, the Terriers had outshot the Mocs (8-4) and held a 3-0 lead.

Kara Boggs was replaced in goal by Kimberly Cohn for the second half. The Terriers would add a fourth goal in the 65th minute when Alex Kachulis scored on a volley off Jewel Kawamoto’s corner. It was the first goal and assist for Kachulis and Kawamoto, respectively. Overall, the Terriers took more shots (19-8) and corners (8-2) than the Mocs.

Boggs earned the win for Wofford and improved to 4-3-0 on the year. Boggs recorded four saves on four shots faced in 45 minutes of play. Kimberly Cohn played the second half but did not make a save.

Chattanooga played without the services of keeper Lauren Thomas, who sustained an injury last week. Myers joined the Mocs on Wednesday and had not yet gone through a training session with the team. She made three saves and faced 19 shots in her first action.

UTC senior Becca Smith had four shots with three on goal and sophomore Crystal Mackezyk sent four toward the net with one on goal.

The Terriers return to the pitch Sunday for their SoCon home opener when they host the Samford Bulldogs at 2 p.m. at Snyder Field. Chattanooga will face Furman in Greenville, S.C., at 2 p.m., as well.

 

Furman 1, Samford 1 (2OT)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University soccer team played to its first draw of the 2012 season Thursday as the Bulldogs and Furman Paladins battled to a 2-2 tie after 110 minutes of hard-fought Southern Conference action held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

With 25 seconds remaining in regulation, Furman’s Catie Moore heaved a throw-in from the right sideline to Stephanie DeVita’s feet on the flank. DeVita, the nation’s leader in game-winning goals, gathered Moore’s pass with her left foot, quickly took a pair of steps to her right with her back to the goal, then turned back around to her left and hooked a shot neatly into the far corner of the goal.

The score was DeVita’s 11th of the 2012 campaign.

Samford (5-5-1, 2-0-1 SoCon) jumped out to a 2-0 advantage following goals from Brittany Hoffman and Adrianne Mancino. The Bulldogs were still leading by a two-goal margin at the 54-minute mark in the contest before Furman (8-2-1, 1-1-1 SoCon) tallied its first goal of the night at exactly 53:14 off the head of Hannah Stanifer.

Stanifer’s goal, her third of the 2012 campaign, was knocked home cleanly off of a perfectly placed corner kick from India Robinson.

Despite Stanifer’s score trimming Samford’s lead to 2-1 in the second half, it still appeared as if the Bulldogs would hold on for their 13^th consecutive victory in SoCon play.

Late in regulation, Furman stepped up its offensive attack and sent a barrage of shot attempts at Samford’s sophomore goalkeeper, Melissa Montgomery. Montgomery, the Bulldogs’ native of Georgetown, Texas, finished with a career-high 10 saves, eight of which occurred after halftime.

After DeVita’s goal sent the match into overtime, neither team was able to find separation in the extra periods and finished Thursday’s showdown knotted at 2-2.

The tie snapped Samford’s 12-match winning streak against SoCon opponents, but the Bulldogs’ stretch of undefeated conference matches was extended to 17 straight.

Samford opened up the scoring in the first half with Hoffman’s third goal of the season in the 14th minute of play. On the score, which was assisted by Trine Taule, Hoffman took control of the pass in the center of the box, slid her way through a pair of defenders and beat the goalkeeper to the right post. The key assist was Taule’s third of the 2012 campaign.

With Samford leading 1-0 at the half, the Bulldogs outshot Furman 8-4 in the opening 45 minutes of play. Samford also held a slight 2-1 advantage in first-half corner kicks.

The Bulldogs increased their lead to 2-0 early in the second period as Mancino registered her second score of the 2012 campaign. Just 2:24 after halftime, Mancino rifled a shot from the right flank that zipped its way directly into the top left corner of the net. Mancino’s shot was a laser and never got higher than 10 feet in the air.

Samford’s Hoffman earned the assist on the goal, her first of the season.

Following the Bulldogs’ second score of the night, Furman continued to heighten its offensive attack and outshot Samford 17-8 after the intermission. The Paladins’ relentless pressure eventually led to their equalizing goals.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs return to the road for another key conference matchup against the Wofford Terriers to be held at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C. Furman will host Chattanooga at 2 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.