Top Four Seeds Advance in Women's Soccer Championship

#1 UNCGreensboro1, #8 Elon 0

GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Sophomore Kelly Attayek punched in her ninth goal of the season to put the UNC Greensboro women’s soccer team past the Elon Phoenix, 1-0. With the Sunday afternoon win, the Spartans advance to the Southern Conference Tournament Semifinals.

The Spartans had numerous opportunities to get themselves past thePhoenixeven more, but were unable to find the back to the net. In the 26th minute, junior Katelynn Donovan nearly notch the first goal with 15 yard shot that skimmed right off the crossbar.

After 52 scoreless minutes, freshman Kristin Player gave a short pass to Attayek who found herself alone inside the box. Attayek took a quick look and then fired it in past the hands of Elon’s Lizz Johnson.

UNCG head coach Eddie Radwanski said of his team, “We played a good game today. We could have made it a bit easier on ourselves by putting in some of the opportunities we had, but we came out with the win and hope to do the same on Friday.”

UNCG out-shot thePhoenix17-1 in the first half and 13-1 in the second. They also held an 11-1 corner kick advantage.

UNCG’s keeper, senior Katherine Ryan saw very limited action on her end as the Spartan offensive kept the ball on the Elon half for the majority of the 90 minutes. With UNCG’s 30 shots, Johnson found herself very busy. She racked up 13 saves while the team was credited with another.

“Elon gave us a challenge today. I give credit to Elon, they play very tough and organized ball, but we were able to work around it and come out on top.”

“At this stage of the game, it’s all about getting the result, getting that win.  Now we’ve got the win and its time to move onto the next round of the tournament and hopefully come out with another championship.”

The Spartans will head to Davidson on Friday, November 9 to take on theCollegeofCharlestonat 4:30 p.m. The Cougars eliminatedWestern Carolinaon Sunday afternoon after a 1-1 tie led them to two overtimes. It took 22 penalty kicks before the Cougars nabbed the win to move onto the semifinals.

UNCG moved to 14-3-1 overall while Elon finished with a 5-12-2 overall record.

AGATE

SCORE BY PERIODS

                              1    2    Total

Elon                        0    0    0

UNCG                     0    1    1

SCORING SUMMARY: UNCG ? Attayek (9) (Player), 52:00; Shots: ELON 2, UNCG 30; Saves: ELON 14 (Johnson 13, Team 1), UNCG 0 (Ryan 0); Corner Kicks: ELON 1, UNCG 11; Fouls: ELON 5, UNCG 6

#2 Davidson 2, # 7 Wofford 1

DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Sophomores Blakely Low and Kyri Bye-Nagel helped the Davidson Wildcats continue their quest of a Southern Conference women' soccer title when they each scored a goal in the first half to lead Davidson to a 2-1 quarterfinals win over No. 7 seeded Wofford on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium. The No. 2 seeded Wildcats moved their winning streak to six straight to push their overall mark to 14-4-1, while the Terriers saw their season end at 7-11-2.

The win for the 'Cats this afternoon pushed them into the semifinals for the second time in the past three years, and seventh time overall, where they will face the winner of Furman vs. Appalachian State on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.   

With the win, Davidson matches the 2000 and 2005 squads for the most wins in a single-season. The Wildcats also moved their home record to 8-1, second most home wins next to the nine set by the 2000 team.

Davidson wasted little time in taking control of the game when Low struck for her sixth goal of the season in the sixth minute of the first half. Fellow sophomore Lauren Conner (Mechansicburg,Pa.) played a perfectly placed through ball from midfield to a streaking Low, who gathered in the pass after racing by the Wofford defense. Low then struck a right-footed shot into the top-left corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead.

Then at the 24:37 mark, Bye-Nagel continued her career year with her team-best 12th score of the season, and eventual game-winner, off a feed from freshman Allison Drutchas (Bloomfield Hills,Mich.). After Davidson worked the ball into Wofford's part of the field, Drutchas fed a pass to the far side of the 18-yard box to Bye-Nagel, who turned and chipped a left-footed shot over the head of Wofford's goalie Katie McChesney to the middle of the goal for a 2-0 Wildcat advantage. Drutchas picked up fourth assist of the season, second-best on the team.

After being held scoreless for 74 minutes, Wofford found the back of the net in the 75th minute to make things interesting. Mary Rea led a through ball to the near side of the 18-yard box, where Kendra Merchant made a move to get by her defender and drive the ball into the penalty box. Merchant then fired a shot to the far post past a diving Bevin English (Charleston,S.C.) to bring the Terriers within one at 2-1.

Davidson defense though, would shut down any other Wofford threat the rest of the way to help preserve the 2-1 win for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats picked up a 12-6 advantage in shots and had 3-1 edge in corner kicks.

McChesney finished with a game-high six saves for Wofford, while the Wildcats' English recorded a single save in improving to a career-best 13-4-1 on the season between the pipes.

Davidson will now await its opponent, either Furman or Appalachian State, and will next play on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. The Wildcats hope to utilize their home-field advantage as they play host to this year's semifinals and championship games for the women's soccer SoCon tournament.

Scoring Summary
  6:07  DAV   Blakely Low (6) (Lauren Conner)
24:37  DAV   Kyri Bye-Nagel (12) (Allison Drutchas)
75:07  WOF  Kendra Merchant (4) (Mary Rea)

#3 Furman 3, #6 Appalachian State 1

Greenville, S.C. -- Rachel Fry and Emily Krankowski each netted goal in the final 13 minutes to break a 1-1 tie and lift Furman over Appalachian State 3-1 in Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinal round action Sunday evening at Stone Soccer Stadium.

The Lady Paladins improve to 14-5-1 while the Mountaineers finish their season at 10-6-3.

Appalachian State took the early lead at the 23 minute mark when Casey Cleary dribbled through the midfield and unleashed a 30-yard shot that glanced off of the cross bar and dropped into goal.  The tally was Cleary’s fourth versus Furman this season.

The Lady Paladins equalized less then four minutes later.  Fry headed a loose ball towards the right post and sophomore Margaret Antonik volleyed the ball past Mountaineer keeper Emma White to tie the game at 1-1 at 26:44.

Fry gave Furman the lead with the eventual game-winning goal in the 78th minute.  Gena Villari’s shot from the right side of the box deflected off of the crossbar and bounced towards the far post.  Anna Betton tipped the ball to Fry who hammered a shot in at close range for her 11th goal of the season.

Senior Emily Krankowski, playing her last match at Stone Stadium, put the game away in the 87th minute.  The Tabernacle, N.J., native took control of the ball in the midfield and dribbled past two defenders before ripping a shot into the upper-right hand corner for the final 3-1 margin.

“I’m very happy for the senior for being able to rally from behind and advance to the semifinals,” said Furman coach Andrew Burr.  “Coach Popoola had Appalachian ready to play and they were stiff first round test.”

Briana da Mota recorded four saves in goal to get the win while White stopped three shots for the Mountaineers in a losing effort.  Furman held a 15-12 edge in shots and 4-3 advantage on corner kicks.

The third-seeded Lady Paladins will face host Davidson at Alumni Soccer Stadium in the second semifinal round match on Friday at 7 p.m.

#4CollegeofCharleston1, #5Western Carolina1

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston women’s soccer team advanced to the semi-final round of the Southern Conference tournament on penalty kicks overWestern CarolinaSunday at Patriots Point Field.

The match ended in a 1-1 tie andCharlestonadvanced on penalty kicks 10-9. CofC’s record improves to 9-7-2 overall, 6-2-2 in the SoCon.  Western ends the year 9-8-2 overall and 4-4-2 in the league. 

Chrissy Caruso , a sophomore midfielder, opened the scoring for the Cougars midway through the first half with her fourth goal of year. After a Western foul, midfielder Danielle Jordan sent the free kick to the right corner where Megan Manthey crossed the ball inside.  Caruso headed the ball into the net to make the score 1-0 (20:05). 

Both teams had several scoring opportunities during the remainder of the half, but neither could capitalize.  At the end of 45 minutes the Cougars held a narrow 4-2 shot advantage. 

Midfielder Shanna Schmoker put the Catamounts on the board in the 66th minute.  She collected a ball that ricocheted off a CofC defender and found the goal to tie the score.

In the 81st minute, Western had a chance to go one up on the Cougars and win the game.  Lauren Atkinson received the ball in front of the goal and sent a header through traffic.  CofC goalie Sarah Wiggers made the save. 

Neither team scored the rest of the half, sending the game into overtime.  After 110 minutes, the Catamounts held a 12-9 shot advantage and a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.  Wiggers made six saves for the Cougars, while Western’s Caitlin Williams made two saves on the afternoon. 

At the end of two overtime periods the score remained tied 1-1.  Penalty kicks were used to decide which team would advance to the semi-final round inDavidson,N.C. Jordan, aCharleston,S.C., native, pushed the Cougars into the next round of competition when she netted the final penalty kick. 

The Cougars head toDavidson,N.C.to face the top-seeded UNC Greensboro in the semi-final round on Friday, November 9 at 4:30 p.m.