The Citadel 2, Elon 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Andrea Davila and Lea Raedle both scored their first collegiate goals to lift The Citadel to a 2-1 victory over Elon in a Southern Conference women's soccer match Friday at WLI Field.
The Bulldogs improved to 3-5-2 overall and 1-2 in the SoCon while the Phoenix lost for just the second time and dropped to 6-2-3 and 1-1-1 in the league. The Citadel has two wins and a tie against Elon over the past four seasons.
Raedle's goal 10 minutes into the second half broke a 1-1 tie and helped the Bulldogs remain undefeated in five home games this season (3-0-2). The freshman took a pass from Ana Mesa and chipped it past Elon goalkeeper Sydney Branson into an open net to give The Citadel the lead for good.
The five-game unbeaten streak at home is the longest for The Citadel in a single season in school history and the longest overall since the Bulldogs won five straight at home covering the end of the 2010 and beginning of 2011 campaigns.
The Phoenix had tied the game just seven minutes earlier, when Olivia Mackey delivered a corner into the box, and after the ball deflected off several players, Marissa Russo put it past Naomi Carter for her second goal of the year.
The Citadel took a 1-0 lead with just 1:58 remaining in the first half when a cross by Raedle bounced off the post and right to Davila, who tapped it in. That goal came against Elon starting net-minder Kate Murphy.
The Phoenix outshot the Bulldogs by a 21-9 margin, with Carter making seven saves. The duo of Murphy and Branson did not made a save for Elon as the Bulldogs finished with just two shots on goal, both of which found the back of the net.
The Citadel continues its two-game Parents' Weekend homestand with a Sunday contest at 2 p.m. against UNCG. Prior to the game with the Spartans, the Bulldogs will honor seniors Mariana Garcia, Sarah Katchen, Ruth Leiva, Nicole Levermann and Jill Meyer.
The Phoenix returns to action on Sunday at Francis Marion. Kick is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Appalachian State 3, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. – Appalachian State was able to remain unbeaten in Southern Conference play after picking up its first league win at Georgia Southern on Friday night, 3-1, to move to 1-0-2 in Southern Conference play and 4-4-2 overall this season.
The Mountaineers were able to get two goals on the board early against the Eagles and set the tone for the rest of the game.
A Georgia native, Julia Holz, would put Appalachian State on the board early on in the 13th minute. Samantha Childress sent a long ball up to Jane Cline, who was able to flick it over to Holz, who was able to connect on her fourth goal of the season.
Nearly one minute later in the 15th minute, Childress would connect on her fifth goal of the season, matching her career high for goals in a season, on an assist from Merlin Beckwith that would give the Mountaineers a 2-0 advantage.
The 2-0 score would hold for the remaining 30 minutes of the first half and the Mountaineers would head to the locker room with the lead.
Georgia Southern would get on the board early in the second half when Nora El-Shami sent a cross into the box that Alex Murphy was able to get a head on and put past Megan Roberson to draw the Eagles to within one goal in the 54th minute.
Roberson made the start for Sarah Strickland’s squad and would make two saves on the evening and allow just the one goal to earn the winning decision to move to 3-3-2 on the season.
With a 2-1 advantage, the Mountaineers were able to strike once more. Jaclyn Nieradka took a corner kick and sent the ball in perfectly for Aubrey Fletcher to get a foot on it and flick the ball past Molly Williams to put the Mountaineers up 3-1 in the match. The goal for Fletcher was her first of the season.
Williams would receive the starting nod in net for the Eagles and make two saves and allow three goals on the night.
Georgia Southern would hold the advantage in shots 17-13, with the Mountaineers putting five of them on target to the Eagles’ four. Corner kicks went to the Eagles by a 9-5 tally, but the Mountaineers were the ones that made one count on Fletcher’s goal.
The Mountaineers will return to action on Sunday when they travel to Davidson. It will mark the fourth game of conference play for Appalachian State, which is looking to build on its three-match unbeaten streak in SoCon play. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
Georgia Southern hosts Western Carolina on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Davidson 2, Western Carolina 1 (OT)
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Playing their second overtime in the last four games, Davidson again found the winning goal in the extra period when Dani Johnson kicked in a penalty kick in the 94th minute to send the Wildcats to a 2-1 win over visiting Western Carolina on Friday night at Alumni Stadium in Southern Conference women’s soccer action.
Western Carolina (5-5-1, 0-3 SoCon) was called for a hand ball in the box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Wildcats. Johnson lined up and netted her second PK of the season, knocking the ball past a diving Carly Tinstman in goal to the right post for her second score of the year and the game-winner.
The Wildcats (3-6-3, 2-1 SoCon), who played Charlotte two weeks ago into overtime and came out victorious, won their third straight vs. WCU and helped head coach Greg Ashton move to within two victories of 100 for his career at Davidson.
Sarah Tuggle scored the first goal of the game off a direct kick just outside the 18-yard box at the 47:35 mark.
Western’s Kelly Pannell netted her fifth goal of the season to tie things up later in the 80th.
Rachel Locke stopped five shots in goal, while Davidson finished with eight shots of its own.
Jenny Lauer and Tinstman split time in goal for the Catamounts, who fired off 15 shots and put six of them on goal.
Davidson continues with its three-game league homestand with a 2 p.m. tilt against Appalachian State on Sunday.
Western Carolina plays at Georgia Southern at 2 p.m. Sunday.
UNCG 2, Francis Marion 0
FLORENCE, S.C. – The UNCG women’s soccer team picked up a 2-0 shutout victory on the road against Francis Marion on Friday night at Heltzer Field.
The Spartans improved to 6-4-1 on the season and the Patriots fall to 0-10 after the loss.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Simmons only had to make three saves to earn her fifth shutout of the season. Simmons has 52 saves and a 0.61 goals against average in 11 games this season.
UNCG took a season-high 19 shots, holding the possession throughout the game against the Patriots.
The Blue and Gold struck just three minutes into the second half on a goal from sophomore Kailyn Deutrich. Redshirt freshman Kiah Allen started the play by sending a ball to classmate Nicole Epstein, who crossed a shot into the box. Francis Marion’s keeper Taylor O’Berry made the initial save but Deutrich put home the rebound. It was Deutrich’s first collegiate goal of her career.
The Spartans continued attacking, having more chances in the half when sophomore Chesney White had back-to-back shots inside the box that both went just wide of goal.
In the 62nd minute, sophomore Zoe Fishman fired a shot on net but O’Berry came away with the stop.
In the first half, the Spartans came out firing, taking four shots, including a header off the post from sophomore Katherine Rodriguez in the 11th minute.
Moments later after a foul inside the box, Francis Marion was awarded a penalty kick opportunity. Yasmin Bunter stepped up and fired the PK but Simmons made a diving save to her right to keep the Patriots off the board.
With less than a minute remaining in the half, Fishman found freshman Georgia Brown, who beat the keeper to give UNCG a 1-0 lead at halftime.
UNCG finished the half with a 12-4 advantage in shots. White had four shots tied for the team lead with Rodriguez.
The Spartans head to Charleston, S.C., to continue conference play against The Citadel on Sunday at 2 p.m.