Western Carolina 1, Samford 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Just two days removed from winning its second straight Southern Conference regular-season championship, the Samford University soccer team suffered its first defeat in over a month Sunday as the Bulldogs dropped a 1-0 road decision against the Western Carolina Catamounts in a hard-fought contest held at the Catamount Athletic Complex.
With the loss, Samford (13-5, 8-1 SoCon) had its winning streak snapped at nine consecutive matches and suffered its first defeat in SoCon regular-season play since losing at Furman, 1-0, on Oct. 17, 2014. The Bulldogs also saw their school-record shutout streak come to an end at 782:22 minutes.
Western Carolina (8-7-3, 4-4-1 SoCon) defeated Samford at home for the first time in school history and improved to 2-7-1 against the Bulldogs. The Catamounts’ victory snapped Samford’s five-match winning streak in the series and secured their No. 6 seed in next week’s SoCon tournament.
The Bulldogs, who will be the No. 1-seeded team in the upcoming SoCon tournament, will play host to either No. 8 Chattanooga or No. 9 VMI on Saturday at 7 p.m. (CDT) in the quarterfinal round of the 10-team postseason event.
Chattanooga and VMI are scheduled to face off in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at 5 p.m., Wednesday.
Western Carolina will play at No. 3 seed UNCG on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2 p.m. in quarterfinal action of the tournament.
The decisive play in Sunday’s regular-season finale occurred in the 20th minute of action as Western Carolina’s Amanda Schwartz registered the game-winning goal following a double-assist from Sara Robinson and Markie Studnicky. The Catamounts’ score, which proved to be Schwartz’s second of the season, gave Western Carolina an early 1-0 advantage.
After scoring their early goal, the Catamounts were able to play with a more potent defensive posture, which made it tough sledding for Samford’s stout offensive attack. The Bulldogs still outshot Western Carolina, 12-7, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Western Carolina’s decisive score in the 20th minute proved to be the only goal that Samford allowed in SoCon play this season. The Bulldogs outscored their league opponents by a total of 21-1 en route to an 8-1 record and their second straight SoCon regular-season title.
Samford’s one goal allowed in conference play this year set the SoCon’s all-time record in the category. The previous record was four and was achieved seven times.
The Bulldogs’ Katie Peters started in goal Sunday and finished with two saves.
Western Carolina goalkeeper Lauren Martin notched three big-time saves Sunday and improved her record on the season to 3-1-1.
Furman 1, Mercer 0
MACON, Ga. – Freshman Kristian Leone punched in senior Kristen Baker’s corner kick at the far post in the 76th minute to lift the Furman women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Mercer in the regular-season finale for both schools on Sunday afternoon at Bear Field.
With its sixth consecutive victory, Furman (14-4-1, 7-1-1 SoCon) clinched a second-place finish in the Southern Conference and the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship. The Citadel will play at Wofford on Wednesday in opening-round play, with the winner advancing to face Furman at Stone Soccer Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 1, in the quarterfinal round.
Furman dominated the possession in the opening 45 minutes and outshot the Bears 7-2 in the first period, but the two teams headed to intermission knotted at 0-0. In a match that lacked many clear-cut scoring chances, Mercer created a pair of corner-kick opportunities in the early portion of the second half that Furman cleared from danger.
In the 76th minute, Furman broke on the counterattack, played the ball out to the right and earned a corner kick when a Paladin shot was deflected wide. Baker curled an in-swinging corner kick with her left foot to the far left post, where three Paladins were bearing down on goal. Leone got her foot to the ball off the bounce and punched a shot past Mercer goalkeeper Maggie Cropp for her second goal of the season.
The Paladins survived a couple of late attacks into the Furman box in the final minutes to secure the win and second-place finish in the conference standings.
Senior Maggie Grisell stopped four shots to register her eighth shutout of the season and improve to 13-2-1 in goal. Cropp turned away three shots in a losing effort for Mercer.
The Paladins fashioned a 12-8 advantage in total shot attempts, while both teams recorded four shots on goal.
Fourth-seeded Mercer will host No. 5 seed ETSU on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament.
Furman will also host the SoCon Women’s Soccer semifinals and championship on Nov. 6 and 8, at Stone Stadium.
Wofford 4, The Citadel 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford women’s soccer team finished out the 2015 regular season at The Citadel on Sunday afternoon with a 4-0 victory over the Bulldogs at W.L.I. Field.
The Terriers (5-7-4, 3-4-2 SoCon) scored two goals in each half, dominating the match both offensively and defensively.
Forward Carlyn Fralick assisted on three of Wofford’s four goals, the second-most in a single match in program history behind Whitney Steelman’s four assists in a 2006 match.
Midfielder Hayley Younginer opened the scoring for the Terriers in the 13th minute. Fralick crossed a ball into the middle that Younginer was able to receive and nail into the right corner of the net for her team-leading sixth goal of the season.
Fralick was also involved on the next goal 50 seconds later. The forward this time dished out a pass to fellow forward Brianna LaFontant, who put her shot into the top left corner of the net for her second goal of the season.
The scoring continued for the Terriers in the second half. Fralick found midfielder Emily Gaid upfield with a long pass. Gaid then led midfielder Hannah Washko toward the net with a pass of her own, setting Washko up with a one-on-one against Bulldog goalkeeper Kim Mora. Washko was able to sling her shot past an outstretched Mora into the left corner of the net for her third goal of the season.
Gaid added the final Terrier goal in the 81st minute. The senior hit a line-drive shot from the top left of the box past Mora for her first collegiate goal.
Wofford outshot The Citadel (1-18, 0-9 SoCon) in the match 30-3, denying the Bulldogs any shot attempts in the first half. The Terriers also won the corner-kick battle, attempting 11 corners while not allowing the Bulldogs any corner attempts.
Goalkeepers Alex Carroll and Mayson Liner split time in net, with Carroll earning the victory in the match. She played 74 minutes while making one save, and Liner finished out the last 16 minutes in net.
Bulldog keeper Sam Millspaugh took the loss for The Citadel, playing the first half in net while making two saves. Mora played the second half while notching five saves.
The win moves Wofford’s all-time series advantage over The Citadel to 12-2-1, including a 5-2 mark while on the road.
The Terriers will host an opening round match in the SoCon tournament on Wednesday, as the team finished the regular season in seventh in the SoCon standings. The team again faces The Citadel, this time at Snyder Field at 7 p.m.
Chattanooga 3, ETSU 1
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore transfer Peyton McCollum recorded a hat trick to lead the Mocs to a 3-1 win over ETSU on Sunday afternoon at Summers-Taylor Stadium in the season finale for both teams.
The win pushed the Mocs to an eighth-place finish in the Southern Conference standings, passing VMI.
Chattanooga finished the year at 4-12-2 overall and 2-6-1 in SoCon play for its best finish in the conference since 2005. ETSU dropped its fourth straight match to finish the year 9-8-1 overall and fifth in the league standings at 4-4-1.
McCollum scored her first goal in the latter half of the first period to tie it up 1-1 in the 32nd minute. She gathered the ball in the box, spun around her defender and punched it into the bottom left corner for the score.
She took a shot in the second half that was saved but not gathered in by ETSU’s keeper, Jasmine Elliott. The deflection made its way back to McCollum, who hit the shot into an open net for what would prove to be the game-winner in the 58th minute.
Her third goal of the match came off a bouncing pass from senior Skylar Brewer to the middle of the box. She smashed it through to make it 3-1 in the 71st minute.
The Mocs got down early, allowing the Bucs a goal in the fourth minute. Eleonora Goldoni scored her first goal of the year at the 3:13 mark of the game, assisted by Irina Brutsch and Simona Koren, to grab the early 1-0 lead.
Despite being outshot 17-8 (11-6 in the second half), the Mocs were able to make their shots count and outdueled ETSU 7-6 on shots on goal. UTC senior keeper Lauren Thomas, making her second straight start, made five saves after giving up the early goal.
The Mocs will host VMI on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Finley Stadium in the opening round of the Southern Conference Championship.
ETSU will face No. 4 seed Mercer in Macon, Ga., in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m.
UNCG 3, VMI 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women’s soccer team closed out the regular season with a 3-1 victory over VMI (6-12-1) at home Sunday afternoon. The Spartans finish the season 8-8-3 overall and 6-2-1 in the Southern Conference and earned the No. 3 seed in the SoCon tournament, improving upon last season’s No. 5 seed.
Prior to the start of Sunday’s match, the Spartans’ six seniors, Kailyn Deutrich, Zoe Fishman, Chesney White, Candice Forbes, Ashley Eddleman and Tracy Wolf, were recognized during Senior Day ceremonies.
The Spartans took a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute when Caylin Prillaman scored. Diarra Simmons crossed the ball from the left side, where it found Prillaman, who took a short shot past Darien Dunham in goal. It marked the third straight game that Prillaman has scored for the Spartans and her fifth goal of the season.
The Spartans held on for a 1-0 lead at the half. UNCG outshout the Keydets 10-1 and held a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks. Dunham made seven saves in between the pipes for the first half for VMI.
VMI tallied the equalizer in the 57th minute when Juliet Esnardo crept up on Chloe Buehler to put one past the Spartans’ last line of defense. Less than 10 minutes later, White was fed a cross from fellow senior Fishman and she connected to tally her second goal in as many games while marking the 32nd of her career.
After back-to-back missed opportunities for Simmons, she finally found net when she slipped the ball between Dunham’s legs off a corner kick from Katelyn Mountjoy for a 3-1 lead.
UNCG outshot VMI 24-1 in the victory and didn’t allow the Keydets to take one corner kick, while the Spartans took 11. Dunham made 11 saves for the visitors while allowing three goals.
The Spartans closed out the regular season winning five of their last six matches. UNCG is set to host sixth-seeded Western Carolina in the SoCon tournament quarterfinals on Saturday, Oct. 31.
VMI, which took the ninth seed, will play at No. 8 seed Chattanooga in the first round on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m.