Friday, October 16
Texas State Soccer Snaps Three-Match Skid With Victory Over UL Lafayette
LAFAYETTE, La. – Four unanswered goals for the Texas State soccer team snapped a three-match losing skid as the Bobcats pulled away with a 4-2 victory against UL Lafayette Friday evening. Texas State improves to 9-5 overall and 3-3 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Several firsts happened for the Bobcats Friday evening as Lynsey Curry recorded a career-high five points and Skylar Vanover-Hallmark recorded her first-ever collegiate goal to build upon the Texas State lead.
After two early goals by the Ragin’ Cajuns, Curry capitalized late in the first, twice, to tie up the match before intermission. Curry’s two goals match her career-high for goals scored in a contest. She now has recorded eight goals this season, marking the most-ever in a season while at Texas State.
Maddie Nichols scored what proved to be the game-winner in the 65th minute for her first goal this season. Nichols received a pass from Curry inside the box and ultimately beat the keeper in on the left side. With the assist, Curry achieved five points for the first time in her career.
A goal in the 84th minute by Vanover-Hallmark sealed the deal for the ‘Cats all while granting the freshman her first collegiate goal. Lauren Prater was credited with Vanover-Hallmark’s assist as she passed it in to her from the right side of the box.
The victory for the ‘Cats moves them back to .500 in conference play and marked the first time that Texas State had defeated UL Lafayette at the Ragin’ Cajun Soccer Complex.
Texas State finished the contest with 20 shots compared to just 10 allowed by UL Lafayette. The Bobcats also notched five corners, all in the first half, compared to just one by the Ragin’ Cajuns. Senior goalkeeper Caitlynn Rinehart recorded two saves in the victory.
The Bobcats will now head to Monroe, La. for the final regular season road match against UL Monroe.
LATE GOAL PUSHES SOCCER'S WIN STREAK UP TO SEVEN, JAGS BLANK GSU
ATLANTA - Senior Nini Rabsatt-Smith (Montgomery, Ala.) scored late in the second half to give the University of South Alabama soccer team a 1-0 victory at Georgia State Friday night at the GSU Soccer Complex.
The Jaguars have won seven straight matches and are unbeaten in their last eight contests; they improve to 12-2-1 overall on the season and 6-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Panthers fall to 8-4-3 and 2-3-1.
"I thought we did alright; we were a little slow in the first half and lacked a little bit of energy," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "We talked about that at halftime and I thought the girls responded very well in the second half, controlled the tempo of the game and got their rewards."
The win marks the fourth time in the last five games South Alabama has scored either in the last 11 minutes or in overtime to keep their win streak alive. The Jags have won 16 consecutive games against league opponents, the longest current run in Division I.
"Tuesday's when we do our fitness is certainly being effective at the moment," Winkworth said. "Also from a character standpoint, we never stop, we never quit, and we're going to grind out a result.
"I was talking to the assistant coaches on the sideline and I said we might have to make a change here or there because we didn't come here for a draw - I'm not a believer in playing for a draw - and we were brave and continued to attack. I felt that in the second half, the girls got rewarded."
Rabsatt-Smith scored the only goal of the match at 79:42, converting a corner kick from sophomore Chelsea Followwell (Sachse, Texas).
"Chelsea put in a lovely ball - she put in two or three, to be fair to her in the second half - similar to what Jemma (Purfield) was putting in on the other side, and Nini leapt like a salmon, got her head on it, and got us the three points."
Georgia State got off two late shots in an attempt to tie, at 80:41 and 86:36, but neither found the target.
USA won the shots battle 16-7 - 9-3 in the second half alone - and held a 7-3 margin on goal. Senior Jordan Duncan (Bay St. Louis, Miss) and sophomore Sophie Haywood (Hull, England) each put two attempts on net.
Junior Sarah Hay (Waxahachie, Texas) had three saves for her fourth clean sheet of the season and the Jaguars' sixth as a team.
"We worked extremely hard, and I thought defensively we were very solid," Winkworth stated. "We limited their shots, they didn't get in behind us and were strong from front to back. I'm proud of the girls' efforts."
Troy Soccer Blanks Georgia Southern on the Road
STATESBORO, Georgia – The Troy soccer team defeated Georgia Southern, 1-0, on Friday night at Eagle Field, en route to their seventh shutout victory this season.
Troy (12-3, 5-1 Sun Belt) held Georgia Southern (6-7-2, 3-2-1 Sun Belt) to just eight shots for the full 90 minutes of the match.
“Tonight was a bit of a chess match,” Jason Hamilton said. “Both teams were very organized and were ready to pounce if there was a mistake. I thought they were the better team the first half and looked like they wanted the win more than we did. Our work rate and energy was much better in the second half.”
The Trojans also fired eight shots on the evening, but Chelsey Williams found the back of the net after Jasmine Fahrnbauer found her 18 yards out on the left side of the field for the go-ahead goal in the 62nd minute.
Reigning Sun Belt Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week, Mikki Lewis (10-3), didn’t allow a goal in the Eagles’ eight shots taken and accrued four saves. Lewis also recorded another shutout to now have seven this season.
Georgia Southern fired six shots in the first half; five of them came within the first 35 minutes.
Williams led the way with three shots for the Trojans, followed by Brooke McKee with two. Annabell Simpson, Abby Reynolds and Fahrnbauer each had one.
Troy will travel to Atlanta, Ga., to face Georgia State on Sunday afternoon at noon.
Little Rock Soccer Clinches Berth in Sun Belt Tournament With Win at Arkansas State
JONESBORO – For the third time in as many years, the Little Rock soccer team has clinched a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. This time around, the team did so in dramatic fashion.
Quin Wilkes had a goal in the final minute of the first overtime period – adding to her 81st minute goal earlier in the afternoon – as the Trojans defeated rival Arkansas State at the A-State Soccer Complex on Friday.
Little Rock (8-5-4, 3-1-3 Sun Belt Conference) entered the weekend in fourth place in league play and had nine points in the standings. With Friday's victory, the Trojans ensured that Arkansas State (3-12-1, 1-5-1) and ULM could not catch them in the standings with two and three games remaining on their schedules, respectively.
After falling behind 1-0 in the 16th minute following an own goal, the Trojans had the remaining 74 minutes to fight back for a tie. They did that with a Wilkes goal in the 81st minute, and the sophomore ended things for good with a goal in the 100th minute.
The game-winner came after a brief injury delay. An Arkansas State player got hurt with 30 seconds left on the clock and went down at midfield, causing the referees to stop the clock as the player was tended to.
When play resumed, the Trojans blasted a long free kick into the penalty box from midfield. The ball bounced off a few heads and bodies and eventually fell to the feet of Wilkes less than 10 yards from goal. Wilkes blasted the ball into the back of the net, giving the Trojans the win and starting a mad celebration on the field as the bench cleared.
Her tying goal in the waning minutes of regulation came in similar fashion, resulting from a long throw-in from Shannon Shields.
The junior whipped the ball toward goal from the right sideline, bouncing it off the head of Fali Garuba. Garuba redirected the ball closer to the middle of the box, and Wilkes was there with the sliding shot that bounced off Amanda Lee's arm and into the net, tying the game at 1-1.
The goal was Wilkes' fourth of the year and 10th of her career. It preceded her fifth goal of the year in overtime. Garuba earned her third assist, and Shields picked up her fourth on Wilkes' first goal.
Wilkes becomes the first Trojan to score two goals in a Sun Belt game this year.
In the second half overall, Little Rock came out on fire, controlling possession and earning quality chances throughout the half. The team had four corner kick opportunities – three more than it earned in the first half – and put pressure on the Arkansas State back line until it broke.
The Trojans fell behind in the 16th minute with an own goal. The ball was bouncing into the penalty area, and a Little Rock defender tried to head it away. Instead, she knocked it backward past Small, resulting in a 1-0 Red Wolves lead.
The first half saw the Red Wolves control the game, pushing pace and having the wind at their backs on a very gusty day. The wind and fortunes changed completely when the second half began.
Friday was the Trojans' second consecutive victory over Arkansas State and their first win in the Red Wolves' home since 2004. The team has also not lost in six games, extending a school record streak.
Little Rock concludes the regular season with a two-game trip to Alabama. The Trojans first battle league leaders South Alabama on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. before ending the year at Troy on Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.
Appalachian State Picks Up Three Points Against ULM
MONROE, La. — Appalachian State University women’s soccer picked up another Sun Belt victory on Friday when The Mountaineers (7-5-3, 3-2-1 Sun Belt) defeated UL Monroe on the road.
“Today was a great day, said head coach Sarah Strickland. “The girls were committed to seal their place in the Sun Belt Tournament and begin to focus on competing for seeding and it truly showed. ULM is very good team despite some unlucky results. When you take No. 1 South Alabama to double overtime you are competing regardless of your record.”
The Appalachian offense tied a season-high of 23 shots against the Warhawks (6-11-1, 0-7 Sun Belt) en route to their 2-0 win. The Mountaineers’ 13 shots on goal were a season-high.
Jane Cline (Cornelius, N.C./Charlotte Catholic) and Sam Childress (Kernersville, N.C./East Forsyth) linked up for two scores, once in the first half and once in the second half, for Cline’s fifth and sixth goals of the season.
In the 18th minute, Cline chipped a tipped ball from Childress for the game’s opening goal. The goal would be all the Mountaineers would need as Megan Roberson (Kernersville, N.C./East Forsyth) recorded her third shut out of the year.
Cline put the game out of reach in the 69th minute when she drove a low shot from 25 yards out into the bottom right corner of the net.
The Mountaineers now have 10 Sun Belt Conference points with three conference matches left be the Sun Belt Tournament.
The Mountaineers have one more match in Louisiana this weekend against ULL on Sunday. The game is scheduled to kick off at 1:00 p.m.