FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 1, Green Bay 0
@Belmont 3, Western Carolina 2
Bowling Green 2,
@Morehead State 0
Murray State 2, @Troy 0
Milwaukee 1,
@Southeast Missouri 0
@Austin Peay 2, Western Kentucky 1
@Jacksonville State 4, Middle Tennessee 1
UAB 3,
@UT Martin 1
EASTERN ILLINOIS 1, GREEN BAY 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois women’s soccer applied offensive pressure most of the afternoon as the Panthers had eight offsides calls in the Green Bay zone. The Panthers finally broke through for a successful chance in the final 61 seconds as EIU beat Green Bay, 1-0, Friday afternoon at Lakeside Field.
EIU pushed the ball in the Green Bay zone with a pass down the right hand side to Niondina Nystrom. After several dribbles to the right hand corner to free herself, the freshman served a ball into the goal box that was headed home by Sarah DeWolf with 1:01 left in the contest. It was the second goal of the season and second game winner this year for DeWolf.
EIU had a total of five shots on goal in the match coming from Emma Scaro, Henar Urteaga, Pilar Barrio and Madi Fisher.
Green Bay finished the match with 13 total shots but only four on goal. Sara Teteak made all four saves as she posted her second shutout of the season helping EIU improve to 2-0-1 on the year.
Green Bay fell to 0-3 on the year.
EIU returns to action on Sunday afternoon hosting Milwaukee at 12 p.m. at Lakeside Field.
BELMONT 3, WESTERN CAROLINA 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - With its back to the wall, Belmont women's soccer never let up as they scored three unanswered goals to edge Western Carolina, 3-2, Friday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park.
For the second consecutive game, the Bruins mounted a come-from-behind victory in dramatic fashion to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2014. It was a pair of rookies that would come up clutch for the Bruins after they found themselves trailing, 1-0, at the start of the second half.
The Bruins dominated in the attacking third during the first stanza, launching 11 shots to the Catamounts four. They opened the game firing off four in the opening five minutes, including landing a pair on frame. Freshman forward Julie Garst (Franklin, Tenn.) got the action started as she forced Western Carolina's keeper, Jacquelyn Gnassi, to settle in quickly and register a save in the fourth minute. Sophomore midfielder Emily Whitcomb (Elmhurst, Ill.) gathered the rebound and sent another bullet at Gnassi, but she once again stepped in front of the ball and kept the Bruins from taking an early advantage.
After a scoreless first frame, Western Carolina struck first with Jordan Dawsey sending in a shot from nearly 25 yards out in the 57th minute before Belmont would take control. With just three minutes expiring since the Catamount goal, Garst corralled an assist from Belicia Mendiola (McKinney, Texas) and weaved through dense WCU traffic before tapping in the equalizer.
With the momentum on its side, Belmont continued to put pressure on Western Carolina as it once again found the back of the net on the squads ninth corner of the match. Veteran Heather Ferrari (Duluth, Ga.) served a perfect ball into the eight-yard box, meeting the head of Whitcomb who delivered to give BU its first advantage of the match, 2-1.
Belmont showed no signs of slowing down as rookie forward Sydney Cason (Hendersonville, Tenn.) found herself one-on-one with the WCU keeper, Natalia Icen, who replaced Gnassi for the second frame. Cason fired a shot that Icen blocked but the freshman stuck with it, collected her rebound and tired again, this time getting past the keeper to put the Bruins up, 3-1, with 13 minutes remaining.
Western Carolina refused to go down quietly as they used a goal from Megan McCallister to come within one in the 85th minute, but that's all that Belmont would allow to seal the victory.
Freshman Abby Hunt (Surrey, British Columbia, Canada) earned her first career start in goal, logging all 90 minutes and recording a trio of saves. As a team, Belmont tallied 10 corners and outshot their opponent, 19-11.
The Bruins return home on Sunday, Aug. 27 to take on Tennesee-Wesleyan at 4 p.m. inside E.S. Rose Park.
BOWLING GREEN 2, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State came up short Friday night at Jayne Stadium, falling to Bowling Green by a score of 2-0. The Eagles drop to 0-3 to start the season, while the Falcons move to 2-0.
Morehead State held Bowling Green scoreless heading into halftime, securing a 0-0 deadlock at the break. BGSU senior Rachel Winters broke away and connected on an attempt from outside the box in the 55th minute, however, and redshirt junior Erica Hubert sealed the win with an unassisted goal in the game's final stretch.
MSU goalkeeper Michelle Washburn recorded nine saves after facing a staggering 25 shots from the Falcons. Morehead State juniors Cara Maher, Abby Timm, and Makenna Lavatori, along with freshmen Holly Logsdon and Tia Williams, each attempted a shot of their own.
Following back-to-back home bouts, the Eagles will travel to three straight road matches to kick off the month of September. Morehead State will battle Kennesaw State on Friday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. ET.
MURRAY STATE 2, TROY 1
TROY, Ala. - It was another multi goal match for Murray State (2-0) who started the weekend road trip with a 2-1 victory over the Troy Trojans (1-3) for their second straight win to start the 2017 season.
It was another fantastic match for the offense, setting the pace with eight of eleven shots getting on target. "Generally I though the pace of the game was quick, and a physical game. I was happy we had a game like that." said head coach Jeremy Groves after the win. "It took us a little bit to settle down, but once we did, I thought we were the better team and created the better chances. We were unlucky that we didn't score more goals."
It was a hard fought battle in the trenches, with the Racers committing eight fouls against a very physical Trojans squad. "I'm actually happy we had eight fouls against us, it shows that we've grown and matured a little bit and that we can handle our own business and not get pushed around."
Much like their last matchup against Marshall, Murray didn't strike until the second half. A wonderful lob found its way over the back line from Cori Cain who found Miyah Watford for her first goal at the 51st minute mark, making it 1-0 Racers. Troy did fire back quickly at the 54th minute to tie the game up at 1-1.
The Racers had chances before Watford tucked her shot in, including Harriet Withers shot to the right post in the 33rd minute where she beat the keeper, but saw her shot ping off the post and roll out of play. Withers, who came away with six shots in total, found her scoring touch at the 77th minute. Once again going to the right post, Withers curled her shot striking the inside post and watched as it rolled in for her third goal of the year making it 2-1 Racers.
Defensively, the Racers were strong once again, with just three shots out of five reaching the intended target. In their two games this year, Murray has only allowed five shots to reach goal.
The Racers will resume action on Sunday as they travel to face off against the Jaguars of South Alabama at 1 PM.
UAB 3, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Freshman Vanessa Dwumfour-Poku secured her first collegiate goal this evening but it wasn’t enough as the University of Tennessee at Martin soccer team fell 3-1 to UAB at Skyhawk Field.
Dwumfour-Poku’s goal came in the 85th minute of the match as she received a pass from Katelyn Colvin and drove up the left side of the box to nail the goal home past the UAB diving goalkeeper. However, the Skyhawk rally came too late as the Blazers (3-0) used a pair of goal in the first 12 minutes to establish early momentum.
Amy McGivern paced UT Martin (1-2) in the shots category (four total shots, two on goal) as she logged the full 90 minutes. In her 27 minutes on the field, Dwumfour-Poku’s goal was accompanied by two other shots. Coming off her Ohio Valley Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week honor, Danae Kaldaridou (two shots) was joined by Bianca McFarland (two shots) and Alice Adams (two shots) as the only other UT Martin players with multiple shots in the match.
Erica Myers swatted a career-high eight would-be goals tonight and played in all 90 minutes. Her eight-save performance came after she entered this evening’s match with three saves on the season.
UAB outshot the Skyhawks 12-9 in the first half, finding the back of the net in the eighth and 12th minutes. UT Martin put four shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes but trailed 2-0 at the break.
The second half was a defensive showdown for the first 35 minutes before the Blazers took a 3-0 advantage at the 80:19 mark. Dwumfour-Poku’s goal came a little over four minutes later off a perfect feed from Colvin, giving the junior from Arlington, Tenn. a team-best three assists on the season.
The Skyhawks fired two more shots in the waning minutes but could not cut into the UAB deficit any further.
UT Martin heads to Bowling Green, Ky. as it takes on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Sunday, Aug. 27. Kickoff is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
MILWAUKEE 1, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's soccer suffered its first loss of the 2017 season Friday evening to Milwaukee (2-0-1) by a score of 1-0.
The Redhawks are now 2-1 on the early season.
Both teams entered Friday's match unbeaten, neither surrendering a goal in their first two games.
Statistically, both teams preformed nearly identical. Milwaukee outshot the Redhawks 13-11 while both squads put five shots on goal each. Both teams had two corner kicks but Milwaukee was called for four more fouls, 12-8.
Kindra Lierz (1-1) suffered the loss in goal. Lierz allowed the lone goal to the Panthers and made four saves. The senior keeper now has 230 career saves to move into second all-time in the category. The record is 254 (Ashton Aubuchon, 2010-13).
Milwaukee's Mallory Geurts (2-0-1) picked up the solo shutout in goal. She made five saves on the night.
Offensively, four Redhawks including Paige Blankenheim, Maggie Pike, Lexi Grote, and Shelby Beussink all took two shots. Blankenheim put both shots on goal.
Four Southeast student-athletes played all 90 minutes on the field including midfielder Blankenheim, and defenders Maddi Karstens, Lauren Kaempfe, and Jasmin Hilliard.
Both teams played a scoreless first half. Southeast outshot the Panthers in the first 45, 7-6.
In the 70th minute, the Panthers created an effective set piece in the box. McKaela Schmelzer passed to Aubrey Krahn who quickly dished out to Lourdes Onwuemeka who fired a near-point blank shot into the center of the net. The goal proved to be the difference maker in the game.
Southeast will close its homestand Sunday at 1 p.m. against Green Bay.
AUSTIN PEAY 2, WESTERN KENTUCKY 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Friday was a night of firsts for Austin Peay State University women’s soccer.
It was the Governors first regular season home game for the 2017 season.
It saw sophomore Shelby Stewart score her first career goal as a Gov.
And Stewart’s 72nd-minute penalty kick proved to be the game-winner for the Governors in a 2-1 victory against visiting Western Kentucky—Austin Peay’s first in eight attempts against the Lady Toppers.
Attempts were difficult to come during the opening 45 minutes, with the two teams combining for five first-half shot attempts. Senior Kirstin Robertson and freshman Claire Larose each forced a save out of Western Kentucky netminder Allison Leone, while Paige Goodman’s 44th-minute attempt on net was stopped by Mary Parker Powell for her lone save of the contest.
In a second half that saw an uptick in aggression—the teams combined for 10 second-half fouls after being whistled for just three total over the opening 45 minutes—the Lady Toppers drew first blood on a 49th-minute penalty kick. The Govs were whistled for a foul in the box, with Chandler Backes putting away the ensuing penalty kick for the game’s first goal.
Western Kentucky’s lead would be short-lived. In the 52nd minute, junior Morgan Jackson burst down the left side and flicked a cross into the box. Robertson caught it on the side of her right foot to put it past Leone for the equalizer—her season’s second goal and the 16th of her Austin Peay career, moving her past Andy Quiceno and into sole possession of fourth place all-time.
In the 72nd minute, Western Kentucky was whistled for a handball in the box as Stewart broke in on net and the newcomer from Phoenix took the PK and put it away with ease for the go-ahead goal—the first game-winner of her Austin Peay career.
Austin Peay hosts Lipscomb in a 3 p.m., Sunday, contest at Morgan Brothers Field. The Bisons have rallied back from a 2-0 loss to Western Kentucky, Aug. 18, with a 2-2 draw against No. 10 Auburn and a 1-0 victory against Arkansas State, Thursday.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 4, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The combination of sophomore Danielle Monroe and senior Kayla Thompson set the tone with two early goals by Monroe in Jacksonville State's 4-1 win over Middle Tennessee on Friday night at the JSU Soccer Field.
The Gamecocks have put together back-to-back wins after Friday's result and have tallied seven goals in the last 135 minutes. The win pushed Jax State's mark to 2-1 on the season, while the MTSU fell to 0-3 overall. JSU will look to extend its winning ways on Sunday, hosting Georgia State on the JSU campus. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Admission is free to all home matches.
Monroe and Thompson put together mirror images on a pair of scoring plays with in the first 20 minutes of action and the came within five minutes of each other. Thompson started both scoring opportunities with drives past the MTSU defense and crossing it to Monroe to finish the play. Monroe, from Villa Rica, Georgia struck for the first goal in the 15th minute and added her second goal in the 20th minute.
Thompson, a forward from Brandon, Mississippi, capped off a solid outing with her first goal of the night to extend JSU's lead to 3-0 in the 53rd minute. Thompson was able to get by the Blue Raiders for a 1-v-1 situation for the goal. Thompson finished the night with five points overall in 69 minutes of action.
After the Blue Raiders quickly responded a minute after Thompson's goal to give them life, the Gamecocks were able to add an insurance goal in the 80th minute as sophomore Emma Meadows carded her first goal of her collegiate career after taking a cross from sophomore Rachel Blanding.
JSU's defense was once again stingy throughout the contest as MTSU was limited to seven total shot attempts and three on goal opportunities. The Gamecocks were balanced offensively with seven shots in the opening half and six in the final 45 minutes for 13 total chances, including nine on goal.
The win snapped a four-game losing skid to MTSU and recorded a win over the side from Murfreesboro, Tennessee for the first time since 2008. The first goal of the contest on Friday also snapped a four consecutive games against MTSU that JSU did not tally a goal.