The Citadel 4, Francis Marion 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel earned its first win of the season 4-0 Sunday at W.L.I. Field against Francis Marion.
Ana Da Costa got the Bulldogs (1-7) on the board in the first half after punching one in from inside the 6-yard box after a kick from midfield was saved by the keeper. The Citadel would take a 1-0 lead into halftime after holding the Patriots (1-7) to five shots.
The offense continued to click in the second half as the Bulldogs scored three goals in seven minutes. Ray Brown tallied her first goal of the season after receiving the pass from Emilie Valenciano and firing it into the left corner of the net.
Andrea Davila would notch her second goal of the season one minute later after receiving the ball from Katherine Arroyo. Arroyo also collected her second goal and assist this season after scoring in the 76th minute.
Freshman keeper Abby Koger earned her first win of the season in the net, recording one save in 45 minutes of work. The Citadel had four corners while Francis Marion had three.
The two games this weekend were a part of the Nike Challenge 2 featuring Charleston Southern, Morehead State and Francis Marion. Valenciano and Sam Waarum were selected to the all-tournament team for their strong play in the two games.
The Bulldogs will travel to Winthrop on Friday for a 6 p.m. game and then visit College of Charleston on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Mercer 5, UAB 1
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University women's soccer team cruised to a 5-1 victory over UAB on Sunday afternoon at Bear Field.
The Bears (2-4-2) controlled the game from the beginning, with Sarah Daane scoring Mercer's first goal in the 7th minute. Mercer added a pair of goals a little later, as Alexius Hill and Maddie Clark scored in the 24th and 26th minutes, respectively, and the Bears carried the 3-0 lead into halftime.
Jamilah Tejan scored her third goal of the season to put Mercer up 4-0 in the 57th minute. Tejan leads the Bears with seven points so far this year.
Taylor Dowse scored the first goal of her career to give the Bears a 5-0 advantage in the 64th minute.
Maggie Cropp and Cristina Mursuli both spent time in goal and each tallied five saves. Mursuli gave up the lone goal of the day off a penalty kick in the 77th minute.
Mercer will face Middle Tennessee on Friday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at Bear Field in Macon. The game will be the second in a doubleheader, as the men's team will play at 5 p.m.
Furman 3, Presbyterian 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Senior Stephanie DeVita matched Furman’s career record by netting her 57th career goal and sophomore Molly Dwyer bagged two second-half goals to propel the Paladins to a 3-1 victory over Presbyterian in nonconference women’s soccer action on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The victory marked the fourth straight triumph and fifth in the last six outings for the Paladins, who improved to 6-2-0 on the season and 10-0 all-time versus PC. The Blue Hose fell to 3-3-0.
Less than 10 minutes into the match, sophomore Rachel Shah lofted a pass over the top of the Presbyterian defense. DeVita beat PC goalkeeper Sydney Fontenot to the ball a few yards outside the box, played a touch around the charging netminder and fired a shot into the empty net at the 9:42 mark to give Furman the lead.
The goal, DeVita’s 57th tally in 72 career matches as a Paladin, tied her with former Furman standout Emily Turgeon for the top spot on the school’s all-time goals scoring ledger and moved her within two scores of the Southern Conference career mark of 59 goals.
After Furman was denied a second goal on breakaway chances by Natalie Lackey and Carlie Couch midway through the first half, Presbyterian knotted the match at 1-1 at the 43:37 mark. A cross from the right wing to the far side of the box took several deflections before Kristen Peagler poked home a shot for her first goal of the campaign.
The match remained tied into the 79th minute as Fontenot and Paladin goalkeeper Maggie Grisell each tipped long range shots over the bar to deny scoring opportunities for their opponents. With 11:45 left in regulation, Shah chipped a pass over the PC backline and into the path of Dwyer. The Knoxville, Tenn., native took a touch inside the 18-yard box before firing a shot to the left-hand corner for the go-ahead score and eventual match-winning tally.
Dwyer wasted no time adding to her totals as DeVita chipped a long ball over the Blue Hose defense and Dwyer slotted a shot past Fontenot just 36 seconds after her first strike to double the Paladin lead at 3-1.
The second-half goals were the second and third of the season for Dwyer, while the assist by DeVita (57g, 20a) on the final tally moved her into a tie for third place with former Paladin Melissa Turner on the SoCon’s all-time points list with 134.
Grisell finished with two saves in net to improve her record to 5-0-0 this season. Fontenot stopped seven shots and benefitted from Sophie Cobb’s clearance off the goal line in the first half as she dropped to 3-2-0.
Furman opens a four-game road trip next weekend when it travels to Florida to face the North Florida Osprey and Jacksonville Dolphins on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
UNC Asheville 3, Chattanooga 2 (OT)
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s soccer team fell 3-2 in overtime to UNC Asheville on Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs (5-2) got the game winner in the 98th minute with a cross from the right by Kennedy Garrett to Paige Trent.
Chattanooga (1-6) got on the board first on a goal from sophomore transfer Peyton McCollum assisted by senior Skylar Brewer at the 15:56 mark of the game.
The Bulldogs tied it up in the 23rd minute on a shot by Justine James in the box and the game would remain knotted up until UNCA’s Caroline Houser connected on a shot from outside the box. Her goal at the 68:14 mark gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
As the end of regulation loomed, sophomore Emily Moseley won the ball and scored the game-tying goal, on an assist from freshman Rachel Giampapa in the 83rd minute to make it 2-2.
Freshman Molli Miller made her debut in the net for Chattanooga with eight saves.
McCollum and Moseley were named to the all-tournament team.
Chattanooga will return home for a nonconference match against UAB on Friday, Sept. 18, at Finley Stadium.
Gardner-Webb 4, VMI 0
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs scored twice in each half en route to a 4-0 win over the VMI Keydets, in nonconference women's soccer action Sunday. The game was the finale of the Under Armour Classic, a four-team round robin that involved UNC Asheville, Gardner-Webb and Chattanooga.
The teams were scoreless for the first 31:49 until GWU drew a penalty from the VMI defense in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Brandi Arey converted the resultant PK for a 1-0 lead, and the home team would not trail the rest of the way.
In the contest, GWU outshot VMI 25-6 and held a 12-2 edge in corner kicks. Darien Dunham made seven saves for the Keydets (2-5), and Keely Brown stopped four shots for the Runnin' Bulldogs (2-3-2).
Sydney David added on at 39:36 off a cross from Maggie Mae Everett, and the home team led 2-0 at the break.
That margin grew to 3-0 in the 64th minute, on a score by Sam Grove, and Arey scored again in the 73rd minute to account for the final margin.
Alex Frank, who scored her first career goal in the tournament opener Friday, and Taylor Callahan were named to the All-Tournament Team.
VMI women's soccer will return to action Friday, as the Keydets host a four-team round robin of their own at Patchin Field.
Action gets underway Friday at 1:30 p.m., when Hampton faces Francis Marion, and the Keydets take on Presbyterian at 4 p.m.
UNCG 1, Elon 1 (2OT)
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women’s soccer team rallied from a halftime deficit and battled for a 1-1 double-overtime tie against Triad rival Elon on Sunday night at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
The Spartans will be back in action Thursday night as they host defending national champion and third-ranked Florida State. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium and a fireworks show will follow postgame.
The highly competitive game saw the Phoenix hold a slight 19-17 edge in shots but the Spartans dominated on corner kicks, notching a 13-7 advantage. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Chloe Buehler recorded 11 saves in the 110 minutes of play as UNCG improves to 17-1-2 all-time against the Phoenix.
Elon (5-1-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute of action as it took advantage of a UNCG handball call at the top of the 18-yard box. Mel Insley stepped up to the ball and ripped a shot into the top corner over the wall for her second straight game scoring off a set piece.
The Spartans (2-5-1) came out of the halftime break and quickly tied the score just 19 seconds into the second half. Senior midfielder Ashley Eddleman made a run down the right-hand side and slipped a through ball between two Elon defenders. Senior forward Chesney White ran onto the ball and was one-on-one against Elon goalkeeper Taylor Mohr. White blasted a shot into the top corner for her first goal of the season and the 27th goal of her career.
Buehler sent the game into overtime with another big save in the 78th minute of action. Tori Baliatico was able to get behind the UNCG defense and was one-on-one against Buehler, but her attempt at the short side was thwarted. Elon had the first chance in overtime off a corner kick. The initial kick was punched out by Buehler but the ball came back into the box and Grace Bennett had a go from 5 yards out, but Buehler again was there to make the save.
The Spartans’ best chance in the first overtime came in the 98th minute of action. White made a long run and used a teammate making an overlapping run as a decoy. That run opened some space and White’s shot from the top of the 18-yard box just bent around the goalpost, narrowly missing the back of the net.
UNCG had most of the chances in the second overtime as well as it generated four corner kicks in the final period. In the 104th minute of action, defender Georgia Brown had a chance off a corner kick blocked and senior Zoe Fishman saw her attempt on the rebound sail just over the cross bar.
Georgia 1, Samford 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Just 14:19 into Sunday’s home test against Georgia, a Samford defender inadvertently touched the ball with her arm in the left corner of the box, which gave the visiting Bulldogs a penalty kick attempt. Senior midfielder Bella Hartley was chosen to take the kick for Georgia and she knocked home the game-winning goal into the right corner of the net.
Throughout the opening period, Samford seemed a bit discombobulated and offensive runs proved to be hard to come by. Georgia outshot the Bulldogs, 8-3, in the first 45 minutes of action.
Samford’s redshirt freshman Kaitlyn Orman rattled off a team-high three shot attempts Sunday and nearly equalized the match at 1-1 midway through the second half.
On the Bulldogs’ best scoring opportunity of the contest, freshman Ella Baggett drove the right flank and slipped through a pair of defenders on her way towards goal. She then dropped off a pass directly in the middle of the box, where Orman ripped a shot that just barely sailed over the crossbar.
The second half proved to be significantly more productive for Samford as the Bulldogs outshot Georgia, 7-3, in the final period. Georgia’s sophomore goalkeeper from Asa, Sweden, Louise Hogrell, earned four key saves.
Samford’s sophomore goalkeeper Katie Peters notched three saves in the opening 77 minutes of action before making way for Anna Maddox to close out the match. The Bulldogs won the corner kick battle, 4-1.
Samford (4-4) will next be in action Sunday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to Marietta, Georgia, for a nonconference contest with the Kennesaw State Owls. The matchup will be held at KSU’s Marietta Campus.