The Citadel 2, Furman 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Citadel had only two shots on goal, but Mady Riegel and Vanessa Aponte made them count to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 victory over defending Southern Conference women's soccer champion Furman on Friday night.
The Bulldogs (5-8, 1-2 SoCon) defeated the Paladins (7-3-1, 1-1-1) for just the second time in school history and first in the regular season. The only other Citadel win in the series was a 2-1 double-overtime victory in the opening round of the 2010 SoCon tournament.
Friday's game was also The Citadel's first victory in Greenville in seven tries and first on the road in four games this season.
The Citadel trailed 1-0 at halftime before evening the match five minutes into the second period. Riegel had a shot blocked but was able to secure the rebound and put the ball past Furman keeper Rose Hull for the fourth goal of her freshman season, temporarily moving into a tie with Aponte for the team lead.
It took only 5:45 for the senior Aponte to regain her spot atop the Bulldog scoring list, blasting a free kick into the left corner of the goal to give The Citadel the lead. She moved into a tie for third in school history with Amy Loughran with her 21st career goal, and her 59 points inched her one ahead of Kelly Pesterfield for second.
Naomi Carter kept The Citadel in the game in the first half, making 11 saves and finishing with a season-high 13 on the night, only two shy of her career best set last season against Furman. Only a sophomore, Carter has already moved into third place in the Bulldog record book with 235 saves in her career.
Furman kept the pressure on throughout the first half, with Carter making eight saves over the first 34 minutes before a flurry of shots resulted in the only Paladin goal of the game. After a shot was blocked, Carter saved an attempt by Jamie Alexander before Kristin Fennegan was able to find the net.
The Bulldog defense, which allowed 18 shots, including 12 on goal in the first half, tightened up considerably after intermission, limiting the Paladins to only eight shots and two on goal over the final 45 minutes.
The Citadel wraps up its two-game trip to the Upstate on Sunday at 2 p.m. when it faces Wofford in Spartanburg, S.C. The Terriers dropped to 3-7 and 0-3 in the SoCon with a 2-0 loss at home to Mercer on Friday.
Furman will look to rebound on Sunday when it hosts SoCon newcomer Mercer in a 2 p.m. contest at Stone Stadium.
Mercer 2, Wofford 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Mercer women’s soccer team scored two late goals on Friday to move past Wofford, 2-0.
After 85 scoreless minutes, Lauren Gassie found the back of the net to give Mercer (7-4-1, 2-0-1 Southern Conference) a 1-0 advantage. Gassie intercepted a pass from the Wofford defense and shot from 6 yards out to score.
With less than five minutes to play, the Bears simply had to hold on to the lead. They did one better, however, when Brianna Stampler passed the ball into the box and Tess Patton struck it into the back left corner to put Mercer up 2-0 with two and a half minutes left on the clock.
Mercer outshot Wofford (3-7, 0-3) 27-14, and the Bears notched five corner kicks to the Terriers’ one.
In goal, Maggie Cropp made a season-high seven saves. She also recorded her second complete-game shutout of the season.
For Wofford, Kara Boggs’ 13 saves were good for tying the third-best single game mark for the Terriers. Boggs returned Friday for her first game since Sept. 14, when she was sidelined with an injury in a 12-save game at Clemson.
Next up, Mercer travels to Greenville, S.C., to face Furman on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 2 p.m.
Wofford plays again on Sunday, when it takes on The Citadel. The team seeks its first Southern Conference win on Snyder Field at 2 p.m.
ETSU 3, Samford 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – ETSU clinched its 10th win of the season Friday night, as the Buccaneers used three second-half goals to pick up a road win over Samford in Southern Conference play. ETSU has now won 10 or more games in three of the last four seasons.
The Bucs (10-3, 2-1) went into intermission knotted in a scoreless deadlock with the Bulldogs (6-6, 1-1), who entered Friday's contest having won two of their last three matchups.
However, ETSU emerged from the break with a full head of steam and never looked back, taking a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute on a Sarah Zadrazil header off an assist from Ellis Parsons.
Parsons, who has dished out three assists on the year, sent a cross from the right side, finding Zadrazil, who headed the ball past the Samford keeper into the bottom right corner.
Less than 10 minutes later, senior Emilee Engelhaupt scored the eventual game-winner, collecting a pass from Paola Roversi and firing a shot from 30 yards out into the back of the net. The goal was Engelhaupt's first score of the season.
Just 35 seconds after Engelhaupt's goal, Zadrazil scored once again, extending the Bucs' lead to 3-0 at the 55:39 mark. Zadrazil, who entered the match tied with teammate Jasmin Dutton for the nation's top assist-per-game average (1.00), now has five goals on the season and has recorded three goals in ETSU's last two contests.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jasmine Elliott was just four minutes from recording her fourth shutout of the season when Jermaine Seoposenwe put Samford on the board with her fourth goal of the season.
Friday's match was the first of four consecutive road contests for ETSU, who will continue SoCon play Sunday, Oct. 5, as the Bucs visit Chattanooga.
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs remain at home to face the Western Carolina Catamounts in another key SoCon contest to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Complex.
Western Carolina 4, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Four players scored in Western Carolina women's soccer's 4-0 victory at Chattanooga on Friday at Finley Stadium. Western Carolina scored two goals in each half.
The Catamounts (5-3-4, 2-0-1 Southern Conference) scored the most goals of the season with the four against the Mocs, who fell to 0-9-1 and 0-2-0 in the SoCon. The shutout was the fifth on the year for WCU.
Western Carolina wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with the first career goal for redshirt freshman Taylor Webb. At 13:59, junior Kelly Pannell took a WCU free kick and passed it to Wood three yards inside the box for the score. It was Pannell's second assist of the year.
Just before the half, at 36:22, the Catamounts tacked on the second goal of the game when Caitlyn Bradham passed a through ball to Madison Lee, who scored from 10 yards out. Bradham's second assist on the year pushed her point total to eight, which leads the team.
The game stayed at 2-0 for most of the second half before Western Carolina got into a scoring frenzy in the final 12 minutes of the game.
Freshman forward Chandler Arrowood had a one-on-one with the Chattanooga goalkeeper Hanna Dunn and passed it to Sara Robinson, who punched it in for the score at 76:19. Junior Courtney Rosu scored the final goal of the game, and her second of the season, when she scored off a throw-in by Haven Leland.
Western Carolina's victory over Chattanooga was the Catamounts’ fourth win in the last five games, with the fifth game being a 1-1 tie with Furman. The Catamounts have allowed just one goal over the last five games.
Sunday, Western Carolina travels to Samford to take on the Bulldogs, who suffered a 3-1 loss to ETSU on Friday night. Game time at Samford is set for 3 p.m. EDT.
Chattanooga will host ETSU on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Finley Stadium.