Wofford 2, Presbyterian 1
CLINTON, S.C. – Sophomore forward Mary Beth Bleekrode scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute and had an assist for the first goal as the Wofford women’s soccer team defeated the Blue Hose of Presbyterian College, 2-1 Friday evening.
The win was the Terriers’ their third straight and improved them to 3-2-1 overall. Presbyterian fell to 3-3-0 overall with the loss.
The Terriers struck first in the 18th minute, when sophomore forward Chloe Brackett scored her second goal of the season, lofting the ball over the goalkeeper from just outside the 6-yard box into the left side of the net to make the score 1-0. Brackett took the shot off a pass from Bleekrode, who played it to her 10 yards outside the 18-yard box. For Bleekrode, she recorded her first assist of the season.
The rest of the first half, both teams created some opportunities but none of them could capitalize. The Terriers outshot the Blue Hose 5-2 for the half. Wofford would hold its lead at the end of the stanza by a score of 1-0.
In the second half, Presbyterian would tie the game up at 1-1 in the 70th minute, when defender Emily McCord scored on a header off a rebound off the crossbar inside the 6-yard box.
Wofford would respond with pressure as Brackett had a shot saved by Presbyterian goalkeeper Jordan Broadway, followed up by junior midfielder Annika Jansson, who missed just wide in the 73rd minute.
Bleekrode scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute as she lobbed Broadway to give the Terriers the 2-1 victory. Senior midfielder Maggie Bosley assisted Bleekrode for her first assist of the season.
For the match, the Terriers outshot the Blue Hose 12-9, and also won the corner battle 6-4.
For the Terriers, senior goalkeeper Kimberly Cohn made two saves and earned her third victory of the season, improving her record to 3-1-1. For the Blue Hose, Broadway fell to 3-1-0 on the year, also making two saves for the match.
The women’s soccer team will take the pitch again on Friday, Sept. 27, when it returns home to face Francis Marion University at Snyder Field. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. The team’s first conference game will be on Sunday, Sept. 29, when it hosts The Citadel at 2 p.m.
Elon 2, Liberty 0
ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s soccer team shut down a powerful Liberty Flames squad on Friday night at Rudd Field, claiming a 2-0 win.
The Phoenix (5-1-1) kept the Flames (5-3) to limited scoring opportunities for all 90 minutes to earn the shutout, its fifth of the season.
Raychel Diver gave the Maroon and Gold the lead just before half after knocking in a shot directly in front of the goal in the 41st minute off a previous strike off the crossbar by Catherine Brinkman.
Just after intermission, Marissa Russo put the Phoenix ahead 2-0 after lofting a shot from the right side over the head of Liberty keeper Holly Van Noord for the goal. Nicole Dennion earned the assist, giving the sophomore her team-leading 15th point of the season.
Kate Murphy earned the clean sheet for Elon, her second of the season. Murphy moved ahead of former Elon goalie Lauren Ounjian on Elon’s career shutouts list and now sits at fifth all-time with 15 career shutouts. Murphy registered five saves in the win over Liberty.
The Phoenix outshot the Flames 12-6 and ended the night with a 3-0 edge in corners.
Dating back to last year, Elon has come away with a win or draw in nine of its last 10 matches at Rudd Field. The Phoenix remains unbeaten (4-0-1) this season.
Next up for Elon is a nonconference road trip to VCU on Sunday. Kick is slated for 1 p.m.
Furman 2, North Florida 0
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore Stephanie DeVita scored less than two minutes into the match and Hannah Stanifer notched her first goal of the season on a second-half header to lead the Furman women’s soccer team to a 2-0 victory over North Florida on Friday night.
The victory improved the Paladins, 3-0-1 in their last four outings, to 4-2-1 on the season. North Florida slipped to 2-5-2.
DeVita, a native of Simpsonville, S.C., got the Paladins off and running just 95 seconds into the match as India Robinson and Jamie Alexander combined to set up the forward’s fifth goal in seven matches this season.
After carrying a 1-0 lead into the locker room, Furman piled on the pressure in the second half. Kristen Baker rattled a shot off of the crossbar and Stanifer hit the post before the Paladins doubled their lead at the 69:41 mark as Robinson served a corner kick into the box that Stanifer headed past UNF goalkeeper Megan Dorsey. The two assists on the night gave Robinson a league-leading seven assists this season and six in Furman’s last three matches.
The Paladins compiled a 20-17 edge in shot attempts and finished with a 10-7 advantage in shots on goal. Sophomore Rose Hull stopped six shots to pick up the victory in goal for Furman while Dorsey recorded eight saves for the Ospreys.
Furman continues its road swing to Jacksonville, Fla., on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. when it visits the Jacksonville Dolphins.
Chattanooga 2, Tennessee Tech 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s soccer team posted a 2-1 win over Tennessee Tech on Friday night to improve to 4-3 overall while the Golden Eagles fall to 1-7 on the year.
The Mocs put together a second-half offensive that saw two goals find the net and edge the Golden Eagles despite a 23-9 shooting deficit by UTC. TTU found the board first on a goal from Jessica Wilson in the 36th minute.
The second half was all Chattanooga. The Mocs found the net twice on just five shots to Tennessee Tech’s 11. The first goal came on a free kick by junior Crystal Mackezyk well outside the box. Her pass was picked up by sophomore Clare Latham, who headed home her fourth goal of the year.
Latham would figure into the Mocs’ second goal in the 79th minute. Sophomore Melanie Arredondo picked up her second goal of the season when Latham’s shot was blocked by a Tennessee Tech defender. Arrendondo picked up the loose ball and sent a shot into the top left corner of the net for what would prove to be the game-winner.
While the box score showed Chattanooga outshot 23-9 by the Golden Eagles, the shots on goal advantage was just 6-5 in favor of Tennessee Tech. Senior keeper Taylor Mangrum gave up just one goal in the four shots that made it her way, recording three saves on the night while UTC racked up two team saves. Mangrum improved her record to 3-1 this season.
Mackezyk had a team-best four shots with two on goal and one assist, while one of Latham’s two shots on the night found the net.
Ellie Iaciofano had nine shots on the night with none on goal and had one assist, while Wilson’s one shot found the back of the net. Jordan Brown recorded three saves while giving up two goals to the Mocs and fell to 1-7 overall.
The Mocs return home for a three-game homestand that begins Friday evening against Davidson at Finley Stadium. The game is set to kick off at 7 p.m. UTC will be part of the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure on Sunday at Finley. The game is set to kick off at 11 a.m., followed by the race that will begin at the First Tennessee Bank Pavilion.
Western Carolina 2, Mercer 0
MACON, Ga. – Western Carolina scored two first-half goals to pace the Catamounts to a 2-0 victory over future Southern Conference member Mercer University (4-4-1) Friday at Bear Field.
The Catamounts (5-2-1) recorded their fourth shutout of the season and Western Carolina’s fifth multiple goal performance of the season. The team has scored 12 goals and held its eight opponents to five. WCU also has four players score two or more goals this season, with sophomore Kelly Pannell leading the team with four.
Western Carolina had four quality shots in the first half before taking the early 1-0 lead. After a shot by sophomore Markie-Lynn Studnicky was blocked and another went wide by Pannell, the Catamounts finally found the mark at the 16:25 into the game.
Junior Caitlyn Bradham scored her second goal of the season off a turnover by Mercer. A cross by junior Mackenzie Cole was headed into the back of the net by Bradham, breaking a streak of four straight goals scored by Pannell.
Ten minutes later, Western Carolina all but put the game out of reach for Mercer, scoring its second goal of the game. Kayla Sedgley scored her first goal of the season when she corralled a deflection in the box and fired a shot past the Bear keeper Maggie Cropp.
At the half, the shots were neck and neck between the Bears and the Catamounts, with WCU edging Mercer 8-7. Of the seven shots by Mercer, only two were on goal as Catamount goalkeeper Jenny Lauer picked up a pair of saves in the first 45 minutes.
In the second half, Western Carolina’s defense kicked in with all the pressure on Mercer. Both teams had six shots in the second half.
Lauer took the win and improved to 5-0 on the season in goal.
Western Carolina will take six days off before opening Southern Conference play at Elon on Sept. 26. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Samford 4, Georgia State 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After allowing an early first-half goal to the Georgia State Panthers on Friday, the Samford University soccer team exploded for three scores in exactly three minutes and 32 seconds en route to a dominant 4-2 victory in a key nonconference contest held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
With the win, Samford (6-2) extended its winning streak to four consecutive matches and remained a perfect 4-0 at home this season. The Bulldogs have been tough to beat in Birmingham this season and have already posted home triumphs against Tennessee, 1-0, Auburn, 1-0, Vanderbilt, 3-2, and Georgia State (1-5-1), 4-2.
Samford’s four-goal performance Friday was its highest scoring output since the Bulldogs put up a similar four-spot at Kennesaw State on Sept. 2, 2011.
Additionally, Samford improved its all-time record against Georgia State to 6-0-1. Friday’s match marked the first time that the former Atlantic Sun rivals squared off in the regular season since Sept. 21, 2002.
Nearly 12 minutes into Friday’s match, Georgia State’s Ashley Nagy capitalized on a perfectly placed through ball from sophomore midfielder Margaret Bruemmer to give the Panthers an early 1-0 lead. On the goal, Bruemmer’s pass was placed neatly behind Samford’s back line and Nagy took advantage of a one-v-one into the bottom left corner of the goal.
The score was Nagy’s first of the 2013 campaign.
At 34:05 in the opening period, Samford’s Hallie Georgi equalized the match at 1-1 with her second goal of the season. The Bulldogs’ scoring play was set up beautifully by senior Trine Taule, who fired a brilliant cross from right to left directly to Georgi’s feet.
Immediately following the cross, Georgi one-timed the ball nicely into the left corner of the net.
In the final 2:58 of the first half and the first 34 seconds of the second half, Samford scored three goals in three minutes and 32 seconds to give the Bulldogs a lightning-quick 4-2 lead. The total of 3:32 marked the shortest time in Samford history that three goals were scored.
The first strike occurred at exactly 42:02 in the match as senior midfielder Michelle Moll collected a give-and-go pass from Amanda Abbott and beat Georgia State goalkeeper Brie Haynes for her second goal of the season.
Then, just 36 seconds later, the Bulldogs were fouled in the box and awarded a penalty kick. Taule scored on her second penalty kick of the 2013 campaign to give Samford a 3-1 advantage.
The Bulldogs’ final score of their quick three-goal stretch occurred just 34 seconds into the second half. On the play, Moll procured an errant Georgia State pass deep in the Panthers’ box and fired a shot toward the goal. Moll’s shot attempt then deflected sharply off Haynes’ hands and bounded across the goal line for Samford’s fourth score of the match.
The unassisted goal was Moll’s second of the night and her third of the 2013 season.
Samford outshot Georgia State, 24-9, Friday and boasted 11 more shot attempts than the Panthers in the second half, 16-5.
Georgia State’s final goal of the match occurred in the 56th minute and was tallied by Jordan Young to make the score 4-2. The goal was her team-high third of the season.
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. (CDT), as the Bulldogs begin Southern Conference play at home against the defending SoCon tournament champs, the Georgia Southern Eagles. Next week’s contest will be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
James Madison 2, UNCG 0
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The UNCG women’s soccer team gave up two late goals to fall to James Madison, 2-0, Friday night at University Park.
UNCG fell to 4-4 on the season, while James Madison improved to 6-3 on the year.
James Madison took a 1-0 lead late in the second half after Sam Lofton took a pass and fired a bullet to the lower left corner. Lofton gave the Dukes the lead in the 82nd minute, scoring her first goal of the season.
With a minute left, the Spartans tried to push up offensively but James Madison added a late goal after Katie Hyland found Lauren Wilson, who scored from close range for her second goal of the season.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Simmons finished with four saves. James Madison’s Ellen Forrest earned a shutout, while making three saves on UNCG.
The Blue and Gold finished with six shots in the contest, including three on frame.
In the first half, both teams had opportunities to score first with the Spartans getting a chance in the eighth minute. Sophomore Chesney White took a strike just outside the box, but Forrest made the save.
In the 14th minute, the Dukes put some pressure inside the box after a corner kick as Haley Miller’s shot was turned away by the UNCG defense. A minute later, Hyland put a header on net, but Simmons came away with the save.
Off a corner kick in the 25th minute, freshman Rebecca Burrows fired a shot just wide of the net.
Five minutes later, James Madison found space leading to an opportunity from Meghan Cox, who hit a shot to the lower right corner, but Simmons made a diving save to her right to keep the game scoreless.
UNCG returns home for its Southern Conference opener against Appalachian State on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.