Samford 2, No. 18 Auburn 1
AUBURN, Ala. – The Samford University soccer team picked up its biggest win of the young 2014 season Friday as the Bulldogs defeated the 18th-ranked Auburn Tigers, 2-1, in a momentous nonconference contest held at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
With the victory, Samford (4-3) registered its second straight triumph against Auburn (5-2) and improved to 5-1 in its last six matches versus Southeastern Conference opponents. In their last three seasons, the Bulldogs have picked up wins against Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, as well as two over Auburn.
All-time, Samford has also tallied key victories against Alabama and Mississippi State.
In Friday’s win, sophomore Taylor Borman proved to be the Bulldogs’ hero as she connected on the game-winning goal in the 79th minute of action. Borman’s decisive score came on a penalty kick in which she beat the Tigers’ goalkeeper Alyse Scott to the top shelf in the right corner. The impressive goal was Borman’s first of the 2014 campaign.
Samford’s game-winning penalty kick was set up by sophomore forward Jermaine Seoposenwe, as she was dragged down in the box by a pair of Auburn defenders.
Seoposenwe was fouled deep in the box as she was tracking a forwarding pass that would have put her in a good position to give Samford the lead. Once beat on the play, the Tigers’ defenders were forced to foul Seoposenwe.
The Bulldogs never backed down from the nationally ranked Auburn squad Friday. Already this season, Samford has squared off against a trio of top-20 teams in No. 3 Virginia, No. 14 South Carolina and No. 18 Auburn. The Bulldogs have also faced Cincinnati in an early season contest.
Samford jumped out to an early 1-0 lead over the Tigers as sophomore Malcanisha Kelley scored her third goal of the season in the 19th minute of action. Last season, Kelley scored the game-winning goal in the Bulldogs’ 1-0 home victory against Auburn.
On Kelley’s crucial goal Friday, she gathered a forwarding pass from true freshman Abriella Argueta and knifed her way through Auburn’s entire back line en route to the score.
After working her way past a trio of Tiger defenders, Kelley faked a shot to her right and forced Scott to commit. Kelley then darted to her left past the flailing goalkeeper and sent the ball sharply into the wide-open net for the goal.
Kelley, who was a first-team All-Southern Conference selection as a true freshman last season, has already scored 11 goals in her blossoming young career.
Auburn’s lone goal of Friday’s match occurred in the 22nd minute as Casie Ramsier took advantage of a defensive miscue from the Bulldogs. The score was Ramsier’s second of the 2014 campaign and was assisted by both Kristen Dodson and Samantha Solaru.
After Ramsier equalized the score of the match at 1-1, the teams played hard-fought, back-and-forth soccer throughout the next 55 minutes until Borman knocked home the game-winner.
Friday’s victory was Samford’s first win over Auburn held on the road at the Auburn Soccer Complex. All-time, the Bulldogs own a 2-6-1 record against the Tigers.
Samford’s win snapped Auburn’s five-match winning streak on the season. After suffering a heartbreaking 2-1 setback at Clemson on Aug. 22, the Tigers breezed past Furman, 2-1, UC Irvine, 3-0, Georgia Southern, 3-0, Memphis, 3-0, and Minnesota, 3-1.
The Bulldogs own a brilliant 3-1 record when playing on the road this season.
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs continue play in their three-match nonconference road trip against the Lipscomb Bisons to be held at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex in Nashville, Tenn.
Furman 3, Kennesaw State 0
KENNESAW, Ga. – Stephanie DeVita, Carlie Couch and Molly Dwyer each scored first-half goals to lift Furman to a 3-0 victory over Kennesaw State in nonconference action on Friday night at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
The win, Furman’s fourth straight, improved the Paladins to 5-1-0 on the season, while the Owls slipped to 2-4-1.
DeVita opened the scoring in the seventh minute with her team-leading fourth goal of the campaign. India Robinson won the ball on the right flank, fought off two defenders and delivered a cross to the near post at the top of the 6-yard box that DeVita headed past Kennesaw State goalkeeper Olivia Sturdivant. The score marked DeVita’s 38th goal in 51 career matches for the Paladins.
In the 33rd minute, Furman cleared the ball out of the back and into the path of sophomore Couch near midfield. The Tifton, Ga., native out-raced the KSU defense down the middle of the field and finished off of the inside of the left post at 32:57 to double the Paladin lead with her third goal of the season.
Less than three minutes later, Furman won a free kick high on the right side. Robinson floated the set piece to the top of the box, where it glanced off the head of a defender to freshman Dwyer. The Knoxville, Tenn., product touched the bouncing ball away from her defender and buried a shot from near the end line on the left side of the box at 35:27 to up the margin to 3-0. The goal marked Dwyer’s third score of the season and third in the Paladins’ past four matches.
Goalkeepers Rose Hull and Maggie Grisell split time in the net, with each stopping two shots in the victory. Hull picked up the win to improve to 5-1-0 this season.
Furman boasted a 19-11 edge in shot attempts, including a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal. The Paladins found the back of the net on three of their first four shots on target.
The Paladins return home on Sunday when they host the 25th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.
Columbia 2, The Citadel 1
NEW YORK – Mady Riegel scored in the 58th minute to create a 1-1 tie before Columbia took the lead for good nine minutes later as the Lions defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 to begin The Citadel’s two-game trip to New York.
The Bulldogs (3-4-0) dropped their third straight, all by a single goal, despite eight saves by Naomi Carter, who extended her Southern Conference-leading total to 42. The sophomore goalkeeper had seven saves in the second half to keep The Citadel in contention after the game was scoreless at intermission.
The Lions scored the winning goal when Coleen Rizzo put one under the crossbar in the 67th minute to enable Columbia to capture the first-ever meeting between the teams and The Citadel’s first game against an Ivy League opponent in the 14-year history of the women’s soccer program.
The Citadel had three opportunities to tie the game in the final 6:16, including a shot by Vanessa Aponte that was wide with under a minute remaining. Columbia (2-1-1) outshot the Bulldogs 18-9 and had six corner kicks to only two for The Citadel. Aponte led the Bulldogs with four shots.
Trailing 1-0 after a Columbia goal by Emily Johnson 10 minutes into the second half, Riegel tied it just over two minutes later when she took a pass from Lea Raedle and put in a low, hard shot to the right of the keeper.
The goal was Riegel’s second of her freshman season, while Raedle contributed her first assist of the year after leading the team with seven as a freshman in 2013. The assist moved Raedle into sole possession of fifth place in The Citadel’s career record book.
The Bulldogs wrap up their two-game trip to the Big Apple on Sunday with a noon game against Fordham. The Rams are 5-1-0 after defeating Iona 1-0 on Friday for their fifth straight win.
George Washington 3, ETSU 1
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite an improved second-half showing, the ETSU women’s soccer team could not overcome a two-goal halftime deficit, falling on the road to unbeaten George Washington, 3-1, in nonconference play. The setback was the Buccaneers’ first loss of the 2014 campaign.
Like ETSU, the Colonials (5-0) entered Friday’s match in the midst of a program-best start to the season.
GW jumped out to an early lead on the Bucs (6-1), as MacKenzie Cowley netted a goal in the match’s second minute. Cowley went on to add another score 20 minutes later to give the Colonials a 2-0 lead heading into intermission. Cowley leads GW with four goals this season.
The Bucs regrouped at the break and came out strong to start the second half, dominating possession throughout the beginning of the second period; however, GW’s stalwart defense refused to break.
Prior to Friday’s match, GW had recorded four shutouts in the team’s first four matches, a mark that tied for best shutout percentage in the nation.
Later in the second half, the Colonials took a commanding, 3-0, lead on a 71st-minute goal by Nicole Belfonti. However, the Bucs responded with a goal of their own, as leading goal scorer Hannah Short recorded her 10th goal of the season in the 80th minute.
Short has now scored a goal in each of the Bucs’ seven matches.
ETSU will look to shake off Friday’s result when the team travels across town to take on Howard on Sunday at 1 p.m.
East Carolina 1, UNCG 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women’s soccer team fell to East Carolina, 1-0, Friday night at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
The Spartans fell to 2-4-1 on the season while the Pirates improved to 5-1 on the year. UNCG finished with six shots, including four on frame.
UNCG ended with four corner kick chances, holding East Carolina to zero. Pirate’s goalkeeper, Saundra Baron, earned her fifth straight shutout, making four saves in the game.
In the 69th minute, Lexi Herring stole the ball from a UNCG defender and took a touch before blasting a shot into the back of the net to provide the game-winner for ECU. It was Herring’s second goal of the season.
The Spartans had a great chance a minute later as junior Candice Forbes put a header shot on goal, but it hit the crossbar.
With two minutes left in the second half, sophomore Rebecca Burrows had a free kick, but Baron was able to make the save.
In the first half, UNCG and East Carolina finished tied 0-0 with the Pirates holding a 4-2 edge in shots. In the 21st minute, senior Ashley Stokes found the ball inside the box, but Baron stopped her shot. Junior Chesney White had a shot on goal in the 34th minute but Baron made the save again.
UNCG remains home to face ACC foe NC State on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Tennessee Tech 2, Chattanooga 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman Abby Linder netted her first goal of the season, but it wouldn’t be enough for the Mocs, who fell 2-1 to Tennessee Tech on Friday night at Finley Stadium.
Chattanooga dropped to 1-5 overall while the Golden Eagles moved to 2-4 on the year.
Linder ran down the left side and picked up a through ball from junior Clare Latham to slash the Golden Eagles’ lead in half, making it 2-1 in the 86th minute. Despite a late push by the Mocs, it wouldn’t be enough.
Tennessee Tech got on the board in the 22nd minute off a header from Katie Phillips to the far post to make it 1-0. The Mocs, with freshman keeper Hannah Dunn in the net for her first start, kept the Golden Eagles off the board the remainder of the half.
TTU’s Taylor Blazei, who assisted on the first goal, scored what would prove to be the game winner in the 77th minute. She took a pass from teammate Zoie Hensley and moved down the left side, pushing her shot past Dunn to make it 2-0.
Chattanooga cut the lead to 2-1 nearly nine minutes later but couldn’t get any closer.
Dunn made eight saves on the night and Tennessee Tech outshot the Mocs 17-9 with a 10-4 shots on goal advantage. UTC took six corner kicks to the Golden Eagles’ five.
Chattanooga will travel to Nashville, Tenn., Sunday for a match against Vanderbilt. The game is set to kick off at 3 p.m. and will be aired online at ESPN3.com.
Cornell 5, VMI 0
ITHACA, N.Y. – The match was a tight, 1-0 battle at halftime, but the Cornell Big Red scored four goals in the final 17:47 and went on to defeat the VMI Keydets, 5-0, in the second game of the women’s soccer Big Red Shootout in Ithaca, N.Y.
After Cornell (3-0) nursed a 1-0 lead into the halftime break, Elizabeth Crowell gave the home team a 2-0 lead in the 73rd minute. Emily Marbury, making her first start of the year for VMI (1-4), stopped three shots in the next four-plus minutes, but Crowell scored again at 77:14, opening the gates to three goals in the last 13-plus minutes of the match and CU’s eventual 5-0 win.
Cornell finished with a 21-2 edge in shots on the night and a 10-2 edge in corner kicks. Marbury made five saves for the Keydets before being relieved by Kirsten Hancock for the final 3:54. Hancock did not face a shot on goal, nor did Big Red keeper Kelsey Tierney.
The home team got on the board in the 11th minute, when Meera Marhoefer scored off a double assist from Caroline Growney and Dempsey Banks to give CU a 1-0 lead. After that, much of the rest of the half was contested in the middle third. Cornell had a flurry of chances in the 30th and 31st minutes, followed by another in the 35th and 36th, but the Keydets shut them down. CU forced a Marbury save in the 39th minute, but VMI prevented another shot on goal as the half ended with the Big Red leading, 1-0.
The Keydets had the first major offensive push of the second half in the 57th minute. Myranda Emery earned a corner that Sydnie Bligh got a head on, but her try sailed high and it remained 1-0. Cornell put together a rally in the 67th minute that included two shots and two corner kicks, but VMI snuffed out the attempts. The Keydets could not prevent another CU attack at 72:13, when Crowell made it 2-0.
Marbury turned aside tries at 72:44, 73:31 and 76:31, but Crowell scored again at 77:14 to make it 3-0. Crowney added on in the 79th minute and Kaylee Fitzgerald wrapped up the scoring at 86:06 to account for the final margin.
VMI will return to action Sunday for the tournament’s third game, facing St. Bonaventure at 1 p.m.
Mercer at No. 25 Georgia canceled
ATHENS, Ga. – The Mercer women’s soccer game with the University of Georgia was canceled due to severe weather.
The Bears held the No. 25 Bulldogs scoreless through 50 minutes of play. Since the game was canceled before 70 minutes could be played, the match will officially be ruled as a no-contest.
Mercer returns to Macon to host Presbyterian on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Bear Field.
Wofford vs. Winthrop canceled
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College women’s soccer game against Winthrop was canceled on Friday evening due to inclement weather.
The two teams were preparing to warm up before a large storm rolled in. The game was called at 8:20 p.m., allowing Winthrop time for return travel.
Currently there are no plans to reschedule the out-of-conference matchup.
Wofford will take to the field Sunday afternoon, when they will travel to Clemson, S.C., to take on the Clemson Tigers at Historic Riggs Field. The match will begin at 2 p.m.