Samford 3, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Samford University soccer team opened its 2014 Southern Conference schedule in impressive fashion Sunday as the Bulldogs used a pair of goals from sophomore Malcanisha Kelley en route to a decisive 3-0 road victory against the Chattanooga Mocs held at Finley Stadium.
With the victory, Samford (6-5, 1-0 SoCon) extended its winning streak against Chattanooga (1-8-1, 0-1 SoCon) to seven consecutive matches. The Bulldogs also continued their stellar play on the road this season and improved to 5-2 when competing away from the friendly confines of the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
Just 4:12 into the match, Kelley tallied Samford’s game-winning score on a 3-yard header off a pass from true freshman Virginia McNeill.
In just her second season as a Bulldog, Kelley has already scored 13 career goals and is only one score shy of reaching the top 10 in Samford’s all-time goals-scoring list. The school’s leading goal-scorer in history is Marian Wagner, who closed out her prestigious four-year career with 26 goals in 2005.
Kelley’s second goal of the afternoon, her fifth in 2014, was added in the 63rd minute of play to extend Samford’s decisive lead to 3-0. On the score, Kelley received a pretty forwarding pass from fellow sophomore Jermaine Seoposenwe and then beat Chattanooga’s goalkeeper. Hannah Dunn, one-v-one, to the right side.
Samford outshot Chattanooga, 29-6, on Sunday and won the corner-kick battle, 7-1. Dunn finished the contest with 15 saves for the Mocs.
The Bulldogs’ true freshman goalkeeper, Anna Maddox, finished with three key saves of her own against Chattanooga and registered the second shutout of her young career. Maddox has pulled down 48 saves this season and owns a solid goals-against average of 1.64 in her freshman campaign.
Samford’s second goal Sunday was scored by senior midfielder Ariane Lukens in the 49th minute of action. Just 3:33 into the second half, Lukens gathered a brilliant crossing pass into the box from sophomore Taylor Borman and knocked home her second goal of the season.
Borman’s assist was her team-leading fourth of the 2014 campaign.
The Bulldogs own an 8-1 advantage in their all-time series against Chattanooga. Samford is in the midst of a seven-match winning streak over the Mocs, dating back to Sept. 21, 1999. Since then, the Bulldogs have outscored Chattanooga, 25-5, in the last seven meetings.
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs welcome new league member ETSU to the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium for a conference showdown.
The Mocs remain home next weekend with a Friday matchup against Western Carolina at 7 p.m. at Finley Stadium and face ETSU on Sunday afternoon.
Mercer 4, VMI 0
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer women’s soccer team rolled past VMI, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon to close out the opening weekend of Southern Conference play.
Mercer (6-4-1, 1-0-1 SoCon) took a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute after Abby Reddig found Brianna Stampler 25 yards out and Stampler fired one to the top of the net. The Bears made the game 2-0 in the 14th minute when Lauren Gassie received a cross from Tess Patton and headed the ball in the net.
Mercer scored again in the first half to stretch the lead to 3-0 in the 37th minute. This time, Isabel Rothschadl crossed to Katelyn Dimopoulos, who scored her first goal of the season.
The Bears increased their advantage to 4-0 in the 49th minute when Washida Blackman found the back of the net off an assist from Gassie.
Mercer outshot VMI (2-8, 1-1), 28-7, including 17-2 in the first stanza. Additionally, the Bears took eight corner kicks, while the Keydets only notched one.
Maggie Cropp and Cristina Mursuli split time between the pipes for the Bears, with Mursuli making three saves in the second half.
Next up, Mercer travels to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford on Friday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m.
VMI will return to action Thursday, playing its final nonconference match of the season by taking on Delaware State in Dover, Del. Action gets under way at 7 p.m.
UNCG 4, The Citadel 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Playing in a light rain for most of the game, the UNCG women’s soccer team scored four second-half goals to defeat The Citadel, 4-1, in Southern Conference action Sunday afternoon at WLI Field.
UNCG improved to 5-4-3, 1-0-1 in the SoCon, while The Citadel fell to 4-8, 0-2 in conference play. The Spartans finished with 22 shots, including 14 in the second half to pull away from the Bulldogs.
Junior goalkeeper Kirsten Glad picked up the victory making a season-high 10 saves, holding The Citadel to just one goal.
In the second half, the Spartans tied the game in the 57th minute off a rebound finish from junior Katherine Rodriguez. Classmate Chesney White fired from distance, hitting the crossbar, and Rodriguez put the rebound into the net.
Less than two minutes later, White scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season off a cross from senior Ashley Stokes.
In the 71st minute, Rodriguez broke through with a one-on-one with the goalkeeper and scored her second goal of the game.
White scored her second goal of the game off a corner kick from Rodriguez. White tapped in her ninth goal of the season.
In the first half, The Citadel took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute after Kim Maldonado scored off a corner kick to put the visitors in front.
UNCG took eight shots compared to just seven for the Bulldogs. Junior Candice Forbes led the team with three shots, including two on frame.
In the eighth minute, Forbes took a shot inside the box, but Naomi Carter made the save. Carter made five saves to keep UNCG off the scoreboard in the first half.
UNCG heads to VMI on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 2 p.m. in Lexington, Va.
The Bulldogs hit the road next weekend for SoCon games at Furman on Friday at 7 p.m. and Wofford on Sunday at 2 p.m.
ETSU 3, Wofford 0
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Following a setback in the the team's conference opener, ETSU and its nationally ranked scoring offense got back on track Sunday, defeating Wofford, 3-0, in Southern Conference play.
Junior Hannah Short scored her 16th goal of the season in the 21st minute off an assist from Molly Collinson to give the Buccaneers (9-3, 1-1) a 1-0 lead.
Short leads the nation in goals and points (38).
ETSU carried the 1-0 lead into intermission before adding a pair of second-half goals to seal the victory over the Terriers (3-6, 0-2).
Junior midfielder Sarah Zadrazil extended ETSU's lead to 2-0, scoring a 70th-minute goal off an assist from Short, her third goal of the season.
In four games since rejoining the Bucs on Sept. 19 after competing with the Austria National Team in the UEFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers, Zadrazil has recorded a goal and two assists.
Senior Kristi Davis cemented the win with an 81st-minute score, her fourth goal of the year. Davis' goal was assisted by Jasmin Dutton and Simona Koren.
Dutton leads the nation with 12 assists.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jasmine Elliott recorded three saves en route to earning the clean sheet, her third shutout of the season.
The match concluded a four-game home stand for the Bucs, who will begin a four-match road swing Friday, Oct. 3, at Samford.
ETSU will visit Samford, Chattanooga, Mercer and the Citadel before returning to Summers-Taylor Stadium on Friday, Oct. 17, for Senior Night versus VMI.
Wofford will return home for a five-game homestand, starting on Friday against the new Southern Conference addition Mercer Bears. The match will begin at 6 p.m. at Snyder Field.
Furman 1, Western Carolina 1 (2OT)
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Regulation and two overtime periods were not enough to decide a winner as Furman and Western Carolina played to a 1-1 draw in Southern Conference women's soccer action on Sunday afternoon at the Catamount Athletics Complex.
The tie moved the Paladins to 7-2-1 overall and 1-0-1 in the league, while Western Carolina moved to 4-3-4 overall and 1-0-1 in league play.
Furman grabbed the early lead at the 10:28 mark on senior Hannah Stanifer's second goal of the season. After winning several corner kicks in the opening minutes, the Paladins took advantage of the set piece as India Robinson curled the corner to the top of the 6-yard box and Stanifer headed a shot through traffic that found the back of the net. It marked the team-leading eighth assist of the season for Robinson.
Western Carolina equalized at 22:25 when Markie-Lynn Studnicky won the ball from a Paladin defender, raced down the left flank and slid a pass behind the Paladin defense that Chandler Arrowood poked past Furman goalkeeper Rose Hull to the far right corner.
Furman had its chances to take all three points, but WCU goalkeeper Carly Tinstman denied a close-range effort from Stephanie DeVita early in the second half; a goalmouth scramble in front of the Catamount net was cleared in the second period; and Tintsman denied DeVita again in the second overtime period after the junior was played through on the left side of the box by Jamie Alexander on a give-and-go.
Hull helped Furman earn a point with a critical save on a point-blank shot following a Western Carolina set piece. She finished with one save, while Tinstman stopped two shots for the Catamounts.
The Paladins managed an 18-11 edge in shots and attempted 12 corner kicks on the afternoon.
Furman returns to Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium to open its home SoCon schedule next weekend. The Paladins will entertain The Citadel on Friday at 7 p.m. before welcoming SoCon newcomer Mercer to Greenville, S.C., on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Western Carolina heads back on the road for a four-game road swing beginning Friday when it travels to Chattanooga. Game time is set for 7 p.m.