Women's Soccer Quarterfinal Results

(1) UNCGreensboro6, (8) Appalachian State 0

GREENSBORO? UNC Greensboro exploded for six goals in a span of 22:17, accumulating its 10th straight win and a 6-0 win over Appalachian State in the quarterfinal round of the 2008 Southern Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament at UNCG Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Spartans, top-seeded and three-time defending SoCon regular season champions, will face Furman in Friday’s semifinal round inMt.Pleasant, SC. UNCG (15-4-1) advanced to the semifinals for the 11th time in 12 years in the conference. UNCG is now 23-5-1 all-time in conference tournament action, including a 2-0 mark against the Mountaineers.

At the tail end of a first half that was played mostly in the midfield, UNCG broke through. With just 45 seconds left before intermission, sophomore Kristin Player chipped a ball just under the crossbar for her sixth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, the Spartans exploded, scoring five times in less than 16 minutes. Freshman Jaimey Etten scored off a rebound at 52:48 to make it 2-0. Lauren Lopez’s shot hit the top of the left post, bouncing into a crowd in front, where Etten knocked it home for her second tally of the season.

Less the five minutes later, sophomore Jen Rincon made it 3-0. Katie Evans found Casey Godwin out on the left wing. Godwin played a perfect cross to Rincon, who headed it home for her third goal of the season at 57:35.

Player scored again less than four minutes later, connecting on a shot from the top left corner of the box. She followed that with an assist on a goal by Godwin at 67:07 to complete a five-point day. Godwin then added an assist on the final goal, a header by Mary Kate Towne, to complete a four-point afternoon.

The 6-0 score was the most lopsided conference tournament match since 2004 when a pair of quarterfinal games were decided by 7-0 scores, including one with UNCG coming out on top.

Kelsey Kearney and Barrie Vogel recorded the shared shutout. Vogel came on to play the final 17:48. Each recorded one save in the match. The Spartans held a 27-4 advantage in shots despite being held without a shot for the first 26:50.

Appalachian State, the tournament’s eighth seed, finished the season at 7-10-2.

(5) Furman 1, (4) Davidson 0

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Freshman Katya Gokhman rifled a 19-yard shot past Davidson goalkeeper Jessie Baxa in the 89th minute to net her first career goal and lift Furman to a 1-0 victory over the four-seeded Wildcats in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament Sunday evening at Alumni Stadium.

The win advances fifth-seeded Furman into the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament where the Paladins will face top-seed UNC Greensboro at Patriots Point inMt. Pleasant,S.C., on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

With less than two minutes remaining, freshman Martha Hall found space with the ball at her feet and dribbled down the middle of the field.  Hall played the ball wide towards the right corner of the 18-yard box where Gokhman ran onto the pass and laced a shot past Baxa at 88:13 to send Furman into the semifinals next weekend.

Furman (13-6-1) absorbed pressure from the Davidson (10-6-1) attack for much of the second half, but managed to create several chances on the counter attack before breaking through in the final two minutes.  Both teams attempted 11 shots while Furman held a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal.  The Paladins attempted four corner kicks in each half to build an 8-1 edge in corners over the Wildcats.

Paladin goalkeeper Jessica Smith made four saves to notch her seventh shutout of the season and up her record to 12-3-1 on the season.  Baxa saved six shots in the loss for Davidson.

(2) WesternCarolina1, (7) Elon 1 (WCU, 4-3, PK)

CULLOWHEE,N.C.- Playing in its fifth consecutive Southern Conference Tournament, the seventh-seeded Elon Phoenix women's soccer team fell just short of advancing past the first round after the second-seeded Western Carolina Catamounts earned the right to move on with a 4-3 shootout decision.  The two squads played to a 1-1 tie over 110 minutes of action.  The Phoenix ends its year with an 8-8-3 overall record, just the second ever record of .500 or better for the program since moving to NCAA Division I play for the 1999 season.  Western is now 12-7-1.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first half, although the Catamounts were denied five times by Elon'sSydneyLittle.

As time was winding down in the second half Rachel Shomper netted her second goal of the year to put Western up 1-0.  Shomper's goal, a one-timer off a pass from Shanna Schmoker, came at 79:28.

ThePhoenixwas awarded a penalty kick with just 5:34 remaining in regulation.  Susannah Gianakos lined up for the shot and knotted the score at 1-1 with her fifth goal of the year.

In the first overtime period, thePhoenixgot off two shots in the final 25 seconds ? the first sailed left off the foot of Katina Boozer while the attempt from Kerri Speers was saved by Caitlin Williams with just five seconds to play.

Williams turned away two Elon shots on goal in the second overtime period while thePhoenix's Lizz Johnson denied one WCU scoring opportunity.

The game ended in a tie and the team which would advance had to be decided with a penalty kick shootout.

Elon was up first and Lauren Griffith's attempt beat Williams.  Western's Nikki Lombardo was also successful on the Catamounts'first PKtry against Johnson.

After both teams missed on their second attempt, Katie Persichini's blast was saved by Williams.  Arlan Whittle's good attempt gave Western the 2-1 edge in PKs with two players to go.

Brittany Hallberg followed with a score before Kayla Beauduy also converted her PK to keep the edge in Western's favor.

Alanna Winsper drove home the final try for Elon, putting the pressure on Bri Cunningham for the Cats.  Cunningham toed the line and beat Johnson for the deciding PK and kept the year alive forWestern Carolina.

Western now advances to next weekend's semi-finals against Samford at 7 p.m. on Friday night fromMt. Pleasant,S.C.

(3) Samford 0, (6)CollegeofCharleston0 (Samford, 4-1, PK)

BIRMINGHAM,Ala.--- The Samford University soccer team advanced to the semifinal round of the Southern Conference Tournament on Sunday with a dramatic penalty-kick shootout victory against theCollegeofCharleston Cougarsheld at Bulldog Field. The team played to a 0-0 draw, but Samford earned a 4-1 win in the shootout.

The Bulldogs’ Paige Lanter, Tori Delmonico, Cindy Spiker and Amber Cress all scored in the shootout. Cress’s goal solidified the victory. Samford’s 6-foot-3 goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead made a pair of diving saves during the shootout period.

By advancing to the semifinal round, third-seeded Samford (9-8-3) will face off against the second-seeded Western Carolina Catamounts on Friday at 6 p.m. The semifinals of the SoCon Tournament will be held at Patriots Point inCharleston,S.C.

CollegeofCharlestonended its 2008 season with a 12-5-4 overall record.

Friday, November 7

Game 5 ? (1) UNCGreensborovs. (5) Furman ? 4:30 p.m.

Game 6 ? (2)Western Carolinavs. (3) Samford ? 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, November 9

Championship Game ? 1:00 p.m.