Samford 4, Western Carolina 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University soccer team handed the Western Carolina Catamounts their first loss in exactly a month Sunday as the Bulldogs’ offensive attack exploded for a 4-1 victory in a Southern Conference contest held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
With the win, Samford (7-6, 2-1 SoCon) improved its all-time record against Western Carolina (5-4-4, 2-1-1 SoCon) to 5-1-1. The Bulldogs haven’t been defeated by the Catamounts since 2008 and currently boast a five-match undefeated streak in the series.
Samford scored two goals in the opening 20 minutes of action Sunday to stun the defensive-minded Western Carolina squad en route to a quick 2-0 advantage.
The Bulldogs’ first goal of the contest was scored by senior midfielder Ariane Lukens on a brilliant header from 10 yards out. On the score, sophomore forward Malcanisha Kelley served a cross deep into the box from the right side and Lukens angled it back to the top right corner from her position on the left third of the field.
The early, momentum-building goal was Lukens’ second of the season and gave Samford a 1-0 lead just 12:48 into the match. Kelley’s assist was her first of two on the day as she upped her points total on the year to 13.
Exactly seven minutes after Lukens’ tally, the Bulldogs’ Jermaine Seoposenwe fired a one-time, left-footed laser from 20 yards out perfectly into the top right corner of the net. Seoposenwe’s goal was set up nicely by Heather Lacy, as she registered the first assist of her Samford career.
The Bulldogs garnered their critical 2-0 lead early in the first half and took the advantage into halftime. In the opening period, Western Carolina outshot Samford, 6-4.
Early in Sunday’s second half, the Bulldogs’ offensive expertise continued to excel as senior Amanda Abbott scored her fourth goal of the season at 52:34 to give Samford a 3-0 lead. On the goal, Abbott collected a quick through pass from Kelley and rifled a shot high into the net directly above goalkeeper Carly Tintsman.
Samford added its fourth goal of the match in the 61st minute as Seoposenwe converted a penalty-kick opportunity. The Bulldogs boast a perfect 3-for-3 conversion rate on penalty kicks this season, with two of them coming off the foot of Seoposenwe.
The penalty-kick chance was set in place as Seoposenwe was dragged down in the box by a pair of Western Carolina defenders. Seoposenwe then drilled the shot into the top left corner of the net to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 advantage.
Western Carolina’s lone score of the match occurred in the 71st minute, as Courtney Rosu knocked home her third goal of the season to make the score 4-1.
Samford’s true freshman goalkeeper, Anna Maddox, turned in a brilliant performance Sunday. The Bulldogs’ 6-foot native of Warner Robins, Ga., registered seven saves and faced 14 shot attempts from the Catamounts.
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 4 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin an arduous four-match road swing against conference newcomer VMI to be held at Patchin Field in Lexington, Va.
Western Carolina will continue its road swing Friday when it travels to The Citadel. Match time is set for 4 p.m.
Wofford 3, The Citadel 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College women’s soccer team cruised to a 3-0 victory on Sunday afternoon against the Bulldogs of The Citadel at Snyder Field.
The Terriers would find the game-winning goal early in the match. The run began in the ninth minute, when junior defender Katherine Whisenhunt sent a cross into the box from 28 yards out on the right side of the field. The ball was headed upward by sophomore forward Faith Lifer, sailing over The Citadel’s Naomi Carter for the goal. The goal marked Lifer’s second of the season.
The Terriers’ win Sunday marked their first since playing UNC Asheville on Aug. 29. Lifer’s goal also marked the Terriers’ first goal since the UNC Asheville game, ending a seven-game scoring drought.
Wofford (5-9-0, 1-3-0) imposed its will offensively, outshooting the Bulldogs, 25-5 (9-2 on goal) and earning six corners to The Citadel’s two. Both teams were called offside twice.
Following Lifer’s goal, the Terriers entered halftime with the 1-0 edge. The team wasted no time in the second half, with redshirt freshman Brianna LaFontant scoring her first career goal to give the Terriers a 2-0 edge. LaFontant was assisted by senior Maureen Buff, who booted the ball into the box for the LaFontant goal.
The match remained quiet until the 61st minute, where Mary Kathryn Macklen sealed the victory with the play of the game. A ball shot from Lifer ricocheted off a defender and landed in front of Buff, who passed the ball to Macklen. The senior defender then blasted the ball from 25 yards out, placing it perfectly into the top left corner of the netting for the Terriers’ final goal.
Wofford will have a week of rest before playing Furman at home on Oct. 12. The game is slated for a 2 p.m. start.
The Bulldogs (4-7-0, 1-3-0) return to WLI Field for a three-game homestand beginning Friday with a 4 p.m. game against Western Carolina.
UNCG 4, VMI 1
LEXINGTON, Va. – The UNCG women’s soccer team used another stellar second half, scoring three goals in the final period to defeat VMI, 4-1, on the road Sunday at Patchin Field.
The Spartans are 6-4-3 overall and 2-0-1 in the SoCon, while VMI felll to 2-9-1, 1-2 in conference play. UNCG is 4-0-2 in its last six matches.
In the first half, UNCG finished with eight shots holding VMI to just four.
For the third straight game, the Spartans went down early as VMI scored in the 20th minute after Kristen Whitehurst beat the keeper inside the box. It was Whitehurst’s first goal of the season after collecting a ball and blasting it into the back of the net.
Four minutes later, UNCG got a hand ball inside the box, leading to a penalty kick from junior Chesney White, who tied the game with her 10th goal of the season.
White lead the team with four shots, including a chance that was stopped by VMI keeper Emily Marbury to keep the game tied at 1-1.
In the second half, the Spartans took a 2-1 lead after a pretty give-in-go from sophomores Georgia Brown and Rebecca Burrows. Burrows blasted her second goal of the season to the lower left corner off the assist from Brown.
In the 55th minute, junior Tracy Wolf tapped in a cross from White to score her first goal of the season. White played a long pass across the box where, Wolf put home the third goal of the game for the Spartans.
The Blue and Gold added an insurance goal in the 71st minute after Katherine Rodriguez found Kimberly Shaver, who scored her first goal of the season. Rodriguez crossed a ball inside the box, where Shaver finished into the lower left of the net.
The Spartans took 11 second-half shots to lead the final shot tally 19-7, coming on strong in the second half for the third straight game.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Chloe Buehler picked up the win in net, playing just over 60 minutes. Junior goalkeeper Kirsten Glad played the final 30 minutes to finish the contest.
UNCG returns home for a two-game homestand, facing Chattanooga on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. before taking on Samford on Sunday, Oct. 12, at 2 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
VMI will return to action Friday, as the Keydets play host to Samford at Patchin Field. Action gets under way at 4 p.m.
ETSU 5, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – ETSU extended its win streak to three matches Sunday, cruising to a 5-1 Southern Conference win at Chattanooga. Five ETSU players scored in the win, including reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Sarah Zadrazil, who recorded one goal and three assists on the day.
The high-scoring Buccaneers (11-3, 3-1) started strongly, taking a 1-0 lead just 97 seconds into the match when Zadrazil collected a pass from Simona Koren and then beat the Mocs’ keeper for her sixth goal of the season.
Zadrazil and Koren connected again for the Bucs' second goal of the game, with Zadrazil assisting Koren to give ETSU a 2-0 lead after just 24 minutes.
ETSU extended its lead to 3-0 before halftime, with junior Hannah Short adding to her national-best goal total in the 41st minute off an assist from Zadrazil. Short leads the nation with 17 goals on the season.
Less than five minutes into the second half, junior Alexa Passingham scored her second goal of the season on a corner kick at the 49:48 mark. Both of Passingham's goals this season have been results of corner kicks.
The Bucs further extended their lead to 5-0 when Thomai Vardali converted a breakaway following a pass from Zadrazil. The score was Vardali's second of the year.
In goal, sophomores Jasmine Elliott and Anna Yancey combined to allow just one goal, with Elliott playing the match's first 72 minutes before being relieved by Yancey.
Elliott made four saves on the day, while Yancey recorded two. Yancey came within six seconds of clinching the Bucs' fifth shutout of the season, as UTC (1-10-1, 0-3) scored its first and only goal at the 89:54 mark.
Chattanooga freshman Samantha Hogan outraced the defense and managed to get a foot on the ball before a charging Yancey could get to the ball. Her shot bounced off the keeper’s leg and to the middle of the field, where Clare Latham picked up the shot and eluded her own defenders to drive home her second goal of the season in the 90th minute.
With the three-assist outing, Zadrazil surpassed Jasmin Dutton as the team's leading assister. Zadrazil and Dutton have both enjoyed stellar seasons thus far, dishing out 13 and 12 assists, respectively. The two entered the weekend tied for the nation's top assist-per-game mark (1.00).
The Bucs saw contributions from nine players off the bench in the victory, including seniors Kristi Davis and Andie Stone. Four ETSU newcomers also contributed off the bench: Megan Horner, Alba Llaras, Kendall Manning and Jil White.
Since suffering back-to-back setbacks in late September, ETSU, which entered the weekend featuring the nation's second-ranked scoring offense (3.92), has rattled off three consecutive wins—all SoCon contests, outscoring opponents 11-2 during that stretch.
ETSU will look to continue its winning ways next weekend as it visits Mercer on Friday, Oct. 10, and The Citadel on Sunday, Oct. 12.
The Mocs return to action Friday night at UNCG. The game will kick off at 7 p.m.
Furman 0, Mercer 0 (2OT)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Junior Rose Hull made five saves to notch her third shutout of the season as the Furman women’s soccer team played to a 0-0 draw with Southern Conference newcomer Mercer on Sunday afternoon at Stone Soccer Stadium.
The draw moved the Paladins to 7-3-2 overall and 1-1-2 in the SoCon, while Mercer moved to 7-4-2 overall and remained unbeaten in league play at 2-0-2.
The Paladins and Bears each registered four shots in the first half, with the best chances falling to the Paladins. After Mercer goalkeeper Maggie Cropp turned away a pair of Stephanie DeVita shots in the opening half hour, freshman Rachel Shah played a ball into the path of sophomore Carlie Couch in the 32nd minute, but Cropp raced off of her line to make a sliding deflection on the shot from the right side of the box.
With under a minute to play before intermission, Furman freshman Molly Dwyer received a pass near the penalty spot, settled the ball and hit a low shot toward the middle of the net that Cropp smothered to send the match to the break scoreless.
Mercer began to pressure the Paladins in the second period and built a 9-6 edge in shots over the second 45 minutes. Washida Blackman nearly put the Bears in front in the opening minutes of the half, only to see her header from the top of the 6-yard box go wide of the left post. The Bears tested Hull with several long-range shots before Shah threatened for the Paladins with a left-footed effort from the top of the box on a pass from India Robinson that forced Cropp to dive to make the save at the left post.
Neither team managed to put a shot on target in the two 10-minute extra periods. Hull finished with eight saves, while Cropp stopped five shots to also earn a shutout.
Mercer claimed a 16-12 advantage in shot attempts, but the Paladins finished with a 7-5 edge in shots on goal.
Furman is idle until it travels to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford next Sunday at 2 p.m.
Mercer will return to Bear Field on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. to host ETSU.