Wofford 1, ETSU 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Midfielder Hayley Younginer scored a game-winning goal with 3:21 left in the match, giving the Wofford women’s soccer team a 1-0 win over ETSU on Sunday at Snyder Field.
A breakaway opportunity presented itself with Younginer and midfielder Hannah Washko playing two-on-one against a Buccaneer defender. Washko’s first shot attempt got past keeper Jasmine Elliott but hit the crossbar. Younginer then nailed home the rebound shot off an ETSU defender and into the net.
Younginer now has a team-high five goals for the season, and Washko earned her second assist of the season.
ETSU (9-6-1, 4-2-1 SoCon) had its chances to score in the match, taking 22 shots compared to the Terriers’ six shot attempts. ETSU also took five corner kicks compared to Wofford’s one corner attempt.
Terrier goalkeeper Alex Carroll, however, was able to keep the ball out of the net, saving all eight shots on goal in the match.
The Terriers (4-6-4, 2-3-2 SoCon) hosted Senior Day festivities before the match, honoring the six seniors in midfielder Mary Beth Bleekrode, midfielder Mary Katherine Bradley, defender Lucy Etro, forward Carlyn Fralick, midfielder Emily Gaid and defender Katherine Whisenhunt.
The win increases Wofford’s lead in the all-time series vs. ETSU to 5-1-1 at Snyder Field and 6-4-1 overall. The Terriers have won two straight home matches against the Buccaneers.
Wofford has a week to prepare for its final two regular-season matches, both on the road. The team plays at Mercer on Friday at 7 p.m. before finishing the regular season Sunday at The Citadel at 2 p.m.
ETSU comes home for its final two matches of the 2015-16 season as it takes on Samford on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Summers-Taylor Stadium. The Bucs finish off the regular season on Sunday, Oct. 25, against rival Chattanooga at 2 p.m.
UNCG 5, The Citadel 0
GREENSBORO, N.C.- The UNCG women’s soccer team improved to 7-8-3 overall and 5-2-1 in the Southern Conference with its second shutout in as many games, defeating The Citadel (1-16), 5-0, at home Sunday afternoon while scoring the most goals and points in a game this season.
The Bulldogs fall to 0-7 in the league and have been shut out 14 times this season. Five different Spartans scored in Sunday’s win, which marks the eighth home victory against The Citadel in program history. UNCG has never lost a match to the Bulldogs, leading the all-time series 15-0.
Georgia Brown put UNCG on the board in the 18th minute when she made two quick moves inside the box before firing a shot off that made its way past Bulldog goalkeeper Kim Mora with ease. Melanie Spensiero made it a 2-0 game when Chesney White fed her a pass in the 34th minute. UNCG held on to a two-goal lead at the break.
The Spartans outshot the Bulldogs 11-1 in the first 45 minutes and held a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks. Mora made two saves for The Citadel in the first half but at the break Abby Koger came in to relieve her between the pipes.
Caylin Prillaman scored her second goal in as many games for a 3-0 lead in the 49th minute. White send a pass from the right side that found her just inside the 6-yard line, marking White’s second assist of the match.
The senior forward led the team with seven shots and notched a goal of her own in the 63rd minute when she headed in a cross from Zoe Fishman to tally her team-leading fifth goal of the season. White now has 12 points on the season with five goals and two helpers.
UNCG’s final goal came in the 86th minute when Kailyn Deutrich rebounded her own shot and put it past Koger, marking her first goal of the season.
Chloe Buehler had two saves in the match, both coming in the final 45 minutes. UNCG outshot its opponent 25-4 overall and 14-3 in the second half. The Spartans committed 13 fouls while The Citadel made just five.
UNCG will have a week’s rest before returning to the UNCG Soccer Stadium pitch Sunday, Oct. 25, when the Spartans host VMI in their final match of the regular season. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. following Senior Day celebrations for the Spartans’ six graduating seniors, Deutrich, Fishman, White, Candice Forbes, Ashley Eddleman and Tracy Wolf.
The Bulldogs return to Charleston, S.C., for their final homestand of the season when they host Furman at 3 p.m. on Friday and Wofford at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday’s game against the Terriers will be Senior Day.
Furman 3, Western Carolina 2 (OT)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Sophomore Molly Dwyer headed in the game-winning goal in the 93rd minute to complete Furman’s rally from a 2-0 first-half deficit as the Paladins downed Western Carolina, 3-2, in overtime on Senior Day on Sunday afternoon at Stone Soccer Stadium.
The win kept the Paladins (12-4-1, 5-1-1 SoCon) in a tie with UNCG for second place in the Southern Conference standings behind Samford (7-0-0 SoCon) with just two games remaining in the regular season. Western Carolina fell to 6-7-3 overall and 2-4-1 in the league.
Tied 2-2 in overtime, Jamie Alexander played the ball off a defender in the right corner to earn a corner kick for the Paladins. Sophomore Rachel Shah served the set piece to the middle of the box and Alexander headed it forward to Dwyer, who nodded a shot into the top netting at the 92:46 mark to set off the Paladin celebration.
The Paladins had to rally from a 2-0 deficit after Western Carolina’s Kelly Pannell bagged a pair of first-half goals. In the eighth minute, Sara Robinson unlocked the Paladin defense with a pass down the middle to Pannell, who slotted a shot past Furman goalkeeper Maggie Grisell to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead and end Grisell’s shutout streak at 509:28. Twenty minutes later, Robinson played a pass to Pannell at the right corner of the box before the forward fired a shot past Grisell to the far left corner to double the WCU advantage at the 27:02 mark.
Furman got on the board at 39:12 when Kristian Leone curled a corner kick to the far right post and fellow freshman Virginia Poe crashed in to head down the shot into the corner of the net for her first career goal. Just 47 second into the second half, Furman pulled even when Leone found Stephanie DeVita at the right corner of the box, and the league’s all-time leading scorer dribbled around a defender before chipping a shot over WCU goalkeeper Carly Tinstman and into the left side netting for her 12th goal of the season.
Grisell, who improved to 11-2-1 in goal, helped the Paladins force overtime by saving Sayres McKenna’s one-versus-one shot on the right side of the box in the 68th minute and smothering Pannell’s goal-bound effort with under 10 minutes left in regulation. The Indialantic, Fla., native finished with six saves to improve to 5-0-1 in her last six matches.
Tinstman stopped two shots for Western Carolina, which managed a 15-13 edge in total shot attempts and 10-6 advantage in shots on goal.
The win improved the Paladins to 8-1-1 at home this season and upped the Class of 2015’s home mark to 33-5-3 over the past four years.
Furman travels to The Citadel on Friday afternoon and Mercer next Sunday to cap regular-season play.
Western Carolina returns to Cullowhee, N.C., for its final two matches of the regular season. WCU will face Chattanooga on Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on Samford in the season finale on Sunday, Oct. 25. at 2 p.m. The Catamounts will honor their seniors prior to Sunday’s match with Samford.
Mercer 2, VMI 0
LEXINGTON, Va. – The Mercer University women's soccer team picked up a 2-0 win over VMI on Sunday in Mercer's final road game of the season.
Sydney Brogden scored her first goal of the season in the 41st minute to give the Bears a 1-0 advantage heading into halftime. The goal was the 11th of her career and the first game-winning goal of her career as a Bear.
Maddie Clark fired off a shot in the 58th minute that was deflected, but Haleigh Svede was able to put it in the back of the net, adding to Mercer's lead. Svede’s goal was her third of the season and the fifth of her career.
Clark dished out her team-leading sixth assist of the season, putting her just one assist away from Mercer's single-season assists top-10 list.
The Bears held the Keydets from getting a goal, as VMI only had one shot on goal for the afternoon.
Maggie Cropp made one save on the afternoon, giving the senior her fifth shutout of the season.
With her five complete-game shutouts this season, Cropp is now tied for fifth in school history in the all-time season shutouts list. Cropp has also registered 20 shutouts in her career, putting her at the top of Mercer's career shutout list.
Mercer improves to 7-6-3 (4-2-1 SoCon), while VMI drops to 6-11 (2-6 SoCon).
Mercer returns home for the final weekend of play during the regular season next week. The Bears will face Wofford on Friday at 7 p.m. at Bear Field. The game will be Mercer's annual pink out game, helping to raise awareness for breast cancer research.
VMI hosts Delaware State on Thursday at 4 p.m. before closing the regular season at UNCG on Sunday, Oct. 25.
Samford’s Seoposenwe secures South Africa’s Olympic bid
BATA, Equatorial Guinea – In a must-win Olympic qualifier held on the road against Equatorial Guinea at the Estadio de Bata, South Africa’s Jermaine Seoposenwe lifted Banyana Banyana to a thrilling 1-0 victory Sunday, securing the team’s bid to the 2016 Olympic Games, which will be held Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Seoposenwe, who is currently a junior forward at Samford University, tallied South Africa’s game-winning goal in the 54th minute to silence the home crowd and lift Banyana Banyana to its decisive 1-0 lead. South Africa then successfully protected its lead to eventually register a 1-0 aggregate win and secure a place in next year's Olympic Games.
In her second season as a member of Samford’s first-place squad in the Southern Conference, Seoposenwe is ranked No. 3 in the nation in both assists (10) and assists per match (0.71). Last season, she set the school’s single-season record in assists with 13.
Both Equatorial Guinea and South Africa knew that a victory Sunday would see the winner qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.