Furman 9, Chattanooga 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Junior Jamie Alexander matched a Furman single-game record with four goals and the Paladins tallied seven first-half goals en route to a 9-0 victory over Chattanooga in Southern Conference women’s soccer action on Sunday afternoon at Stone Soccer Stadium.
Alexander’s four goals, all in the first half, tied the school’s record previously set by Alexa Jones, Melissa Sutton and Danielle Petro. The Paladins’ nine-goal margin of victory also matched a school record.
The win improved Furman to 10-3-2 overall and 4-1-2 in SoCon play, while Chattanooga dropped to 1-14-1 overall and 0-7 in the league. Furman also reached double digit wins for the fourth consecutive season and 13th time in school history.
Sophomore Carlie Couch opened the scoring at 22:42, taking a pass from Hannah Stanifer and drilling a shot across the face of goal into the left-hand corner. Stanifer doubled the margin at 25:49, heading in India Robinson’s corner kick for her third goal of the season.
Alexander put the game out of reach by netting her four goals in a span of less than six minutes. She headed in a Stephanie DeVita cross at 29:20 to start her run before depositing the rebound off of a DeVita shot at 32:27 to give the Paladins a 4-0 lead.
Just 46 seconds later, Rachel Shah found Alexander outside the box and the Martinez, Ga., native hammered a 28-yard strike past Chattanooga goalkeeper Hannah Dunn to increase the lead to 5-0. With 10:02 left in the opening period, Robinson played a free kick into the box that Shah deflected back to Alexander. The forward volleyed the bouncing ball and it took a deflection before finding the right side of the net.
DeVita capped the first-half scoring with a 38th-minute strike from Shah, who notched her third assist of the game, and senior Alyssa Althoff and freshman Willough Davis capped the scoring outburst with a goal apiece in the second half.
DeVita, Shah and Robinson finished with three assists apiece. Robinson’s three assists gave her 14 on the season and moved her into sole possession of second place on the SoCon’s career assists ledger with 47.
Senior Holly Reilly stopped two shots in goal to earn her first victory and shutout of the season.
The Paladins managed a 34-3 edge in shots and 20-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Paladins were able to play 22 players in the match, with nine contributing at least one point.
Furman returns to action next weekend when it caps regular-season play with road games at UNCG on Friday night at VMI on Sunday.
The Mocs host SoCon newcomer Mercer on Friday at 7 p.m. and on Sunday will honor its seniors prior to the 1 p.m. match against The Citadel for the season finale.
Samford 2, Wofford 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Samford University soccer team continued its stellar play on the road this season Sunday as the Bulldogs garnered a hard-fought 2-0 Southern Conference win against the Wofford Terriers in a pivotal league matchup held at Snyder Field.
With the victory, Samford (10-7, 5-2 SoCon) improved to 8-3 in road matches this season and concluded its arduous four-game road stretch with a solid 3-1 record. The Bulldogs completed their trip with SoCon wins against VMI, 5-0, UNCG, 1-0, and Wofford (5-9, 2-5 SoCon). Samford’s lone loss on the 11-day trip occurred at Furman on Friday, 1-0.
In Sunday’s triumph, the Bulldogs received goals from senior Amanda Abbott in the 50th minute and sophomore Malcanisha Kelley in the 82nd. Abbott’s game-winning goal proved to be her seventh of the season, while Kelley’s score also proved to be her seventh of the 2014 campaign.
The opening half featured six shots from Wofford and five from the Bulldogs. The first 45 minutes of play turned out to be a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to find the back of the net.
Early in the second half, Samford seemingly stepped up its offensive pressure and quickly lit up the scoreboard with Abbott’s goal in the 50th minute. On the scoring play, senior Brittany Hoffman served a pass deep into the box and Abbott skied over a pair of Terrier defenders and headed a shot past Wofford goalkeeper Kara Boggs.
Abbott’s high-flying goal gave the Bulldogs a key 1-0 lead at exactly 49:25.
With only 8:06 remaining in Sunday’s contest, Samford’s Kelley scored to give the Bulldogs some late breathing room as she fired home a goal in the 82nd minute of action. Kelley’s unassisted score occurred as she beat a Wofford defender in a footrace and then rifled a shot perfectly in the bottom left corner of the net.
Samford goalkeeper Anna Maddox, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, recorded her fourth shutout of the season Sunday. Maddox tallied three saves against the Terriers.
Samford outshot Wofford by a total of 19-8 on Sunday, including a dominant 14-2 advantage in the second half of play. The Terriers, who defeated Chattanooga, 10-0, on Friday, were outnumbered in corner kicks by the Bulldogs, 6-1.
Samford has never been defeated by Wofford and owns a 6-0-3 advantage in the all-time series between the teams. The Bulldogs have now won five consecutive matches against the Terriers, in which Samford has outscored Wofford by a total of 11-2.
The Terriers honored seniors Boggs, Maureen Buff, Jordan Burke, Shonte Campbell, Vicki Hill, Annika Jansson, Mary Kathryn Macklen and Chelsea Turner in a pregame celebration.
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs play host to The Citadel Bulldogs in a Senior Night contest to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
Prior to the match, Samford will honor its talented senior class comprised of Abbott, Katie Danehy, Hoffman, Ariane Lukens and Melissa Montgomery.
Wofford wraps up regular-season action with two road games, beginning on Friday, when the Terriers head to Lexington, Virginia, to take on the Keydets of VMI. Kickoff begins at 4 p.m.
ETSU 3, UNCG 1
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – In its regular-season home finale, ETSU cruised past UNCG, 3-1, to improve to 9-2 at Summers-Taylor Stadium this season, a program single-season record for home wins. Entering the match, ETSU and UNCG ranked second and third in the SoCon standings, respectively.
ETSU scored four first-half goals in Friday's 7-0 win versus VMI, and the Buccaneers (14-4, 6-2) carried that success into Sunday's match, scoring twice within the match's first 34 minutes.
Sophomore Simona Koren put the Bucs on the board with a 31st-minute goal off an assist from fellow Austria native Sarah Zadrazil. Eight of Koren's 12 goals this season have been assisted by Zadrazil.
Koren is the Bucs’ second-leading goal scorer, trailing only Hannah Short, who leads the nation with a program-record 23 goals.
Just four minutes after Koren's go-ahead goal, senior midfielder Emilee Engelhaupt recorded her second goal of the season, scoring on a penalty kick following a UNCG foul in the box.
The Spartans (8-6-3, 4-2-1) cut their deficit to 2-1 before intermission, as Katelyn Mountjoy scored off an assist from Chesney White. White, who leads UNCG with 14 goals, is the older sister of ETSU freshman Jil White.
After outshooting UNCG, 10-5, in the first half, ETSU continued to create quality scoring opportunities in the second period, taking 13 shot attempts to the Spartans' six.
Zadrazil, who leads the Southern Conference with an ETSU single-season record 18 assists, sealed the win for the Bucs, scoring her eighth goal of the season in the 58th minute.
Over the past seven games, Zadrazil has recorded six goals and eight assists, helping ETSU to six wins.
Sophomore Anna Yancey remained unbeaten in goal for ETSU, making four saves en route to improving to 4-0 on the season.
ETSU will conclude regular-season play next Sunday, Oct. 26, at Western Carolina.
UNCG returns home for the final two regular-season games against Furman (Friday, Oct. 24) and Senior Day versus Wofford (Sunday, Oct. 26) at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Western Carolina 3, VMI 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina picked up a crucial 3-0 win over VMI on Sunday, Senior Day, at the Catamount Athletic Complex.
The Catamount victory improved WCU's Southern Conference record to 4-3-1 and 7-6-4 overall. VMI fell to 3-12, and 2-5 in the SoCon.
Western Carolina currently has 13 points in the conference race, sitting them in sixth place. With the 13 points, the Catamounts are assured at least a sixth seed in the SoCon tournament, but varying factors could boost its seed after the final weekend.
The Catamount defense stifled VMI, as the Keydets failed to get the ball on the Catamounts' side of the field for most of both halves. In fact, VMI was held to just one shot, which occurred in the first half.
Junior forward Markie-Lynn Studnicky scored the first of Western Carolina's three goals in the game at 14:53 in the first half. Studnicky took a pass from Madison Lee and went one-on-one with VMI goalie Emily Marbury, shooting 10 feet in front of the goal, for the score.
Leading 1-0 at the half, the Catamounts would tack on two more goals in the second half.
At 51:13, freshman forward Chandler Arrowood tied senior forward Caitlyn Bradham for goals in a season with her fourth on the year. From a pass by senior Christina White, Arrowood dribbled from the left side of the box and shot over the VMI goal keeper's head to score.
With less than a minute left in the game, junior forward Kelly Pannell notched her third goal of the season to push the Catamount lead to 3-0. Pannell scored an unassisted goal when she shot from the left side of the net, pinging the upper right side of the net.
The score could have been higher. Of the 21 shots taken by Western Carolina, the Catamounts had numerous shots ring off the crossbar or post. The Catamounts also had their second-most corner kicks of the season with 11.
Three Catamount goal keepers saw action in the game. Senior Jenny Lauer started the game for Senior Day and was replaced by sophomore Carly Tinstman after kickoff. Junior Taylor Erickson was in goal for the second half.
Western Carolina closes out the regular season at 2 p.m. Oct. 26, hosting returning SoCon member ETSU.
Seniors Bradham, Christine Cockrell, Mackenzie Cole, Brittany Gendron, Lauer, Lee and White were honored before the game.
VMI will return to action Friday, as the Keydets play host to Wofford at 4 p.m. The game will be recognized as a Shut Out Cancer game and donations will be encouraged via online methods to the American Cancer Society or the Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, the latter in recognition of VMI goalie Kirsten Hancock.