Sunday, October 16
Troy Soccer Claims 2-1 Win Over Texas State on Senior Day
TROY, Alabama – The Troy soccer team battled back from a halftime deficit to score a pair of second half goals and earn a 2-1 victory over Texas State on Sunday at the Troy Soccer Complex.
The Trojans, who honored their four seniors on Senior Day, leveled the score at 1-1 in the 60th minute when Nicole Strahl headed in her first career goal off a corner from Alex Huynh. Troy took the lead in the 81st minute when the Bobcats were called for a handball in the penalty area. Senior Abby Reynolds drilled the penalty for the game-winning goal.
Texas State jumped in front with a goal off a corner in the 17th minute. Troy goalkeeper Mikki Lewis recorded three saves in the game. The Trojan defense held the Bobcats to just three shots in the second half.
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
Nicole Strahl's goal got the Trojans on the scoreboard and tied the game. It was also important because it was the first goal Troy had scored on a corner in 2016, as the team has nearly missed on numerous occasions. The Trojans entered Sunday's game with a league-leading 103 corners.
UP NEXT
Troy (7-7-3, 3-3-2) travels to face ULM on Friday before venturing to Arkansas to square off with Little Rock to round out the regular season on Sunday.
@AStateSoccer Extends Win Streak with Victory Over Panthers
JONESBORO, Ark. (10/16/16) – The Arkansas State women’s soccer team extended its winning streak to three straight with a 2-1 victory over Georgia State Sunday afternoon at the A-State Soccer Park.
A-State jumped out to a two goal advantage on a windy day that made it difficult to move the ball down the field through the air. The Red Wolves took advantage of having the wind in their favor in the first half and broke through when Lindsey Brochu who took a pass from Tayler Carter on a serve to near post and was able to redirect it to the far post for the score.
The goal was setup on an excellent throw in to Bailey Reed, who also assisted on the goal, who was able to give Carter a pass in perfect position to serve it into the box to setup Brochu’s first career goal.
“We worked all on week on getting more players into the attack,” A-State head coach Brian Dooley said. “It really paid off on that goal by Lindsey Brochu and I think the kids really saw what we were trying do with that on that goal and it just started to build from there.”
The Red Wolves added to their lead in the second half when Reed earned her first goal of the season in the 47th minute. A free kick from Carter was deflected by Taylor Schneider toward the net and Reed found herself in position to redirect the ball past the goalkeeper in front of the net for the easy score.
“The early goal in the second half was just another case where we took advantage of a free kick and were in the right place at the right time,” Dooley said. “At that point my next worry was that a 2-0 lead can be the scariest type of lead to defend, but I thought the kids did well to defend it.”
Georgie State closed the gap to 2-1 after Amanda Bruemmer converting a penalty kick in the 83rd minute. The A-State defense tightened up after the goal and did not allow the Panthers to get off another shot.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Ponder had four saves on the afternoon after not facing a shot in the first half. The St. Louis, Mo., native now has 106 saves on the season and is just two away from tying the Red Wolves’ all-time single season record for saves in a year of 108 set by Susan Brown in 2009.
Ponder also made a terrific save in the 56th minute when Georgia State’s Brooke Shank sent a ball toward the net that had a topspin on it that forced the young A-State keeper to punch the ball off the top of the crossbar and out of play to prevent the goal
“For the first time this season we had the advantage of being the team that did not play on Friday going against that did play on Friday so we wanted to take advantage of that, especially in the first half,” Dooley said. “As it turned out, it was a pretty windy day and the coin flip really made a difference and it fell to use nicely.”
Georgia State won the battle for corners, collecting 10 on the afternoon compared to A-State’s one. The Red Wolves, however, took seven shots on goal to the Panthers five, while Georgia State committed 14 fouls while A-State had seven.
The victory, which ties the mark for the longest win streak in school history, places the Red Wolves in a three-way tie for third place in the Sun Belt Conference standings with Little Rock and Louisiana-Lafayette going into the final week of the regular season.
A-State will close out the regular Sunday, Oct. 23 against Georgia Southern at the A-State Soccer Park where it will also be senior day. Admission to the game against the Eagles is free, with live streaming also available for free on the Red Wolves Digital Network.
UL Lafayette Defeats ULM On Senior Day, 1-0
LAFAYETTE – Annika Schmidt scored in the 80th minute off an assist from Natalie Newman to lead the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns to a 1-0 Sun Belt Conference win over ULM on Sunday at the Ragin' Cajuns Soccer/Track Facility.
Newman's shot from the top of the box hit the crossbar and bounced in front of the goal where Schmidt knocked in the game-winner. It was Schmidt's fourth goal of the season.
"I'm just really proud of the way we responded in the second half," head coach Scot Wieland said. "I'm really proud of the seniors. Senior Annika Schmidt got the game-winner and I'm happy for them and proud of them."
Louisiana (8-7-1, 4-3-1 SBC) held a 16-13 advantage in shots with Newman leading the Cajuns with five shots, two of which were on goal.
ULM (6-8-2, 3-4-1 SBC) was led by Cke'Lana Caesar with four shots, one of which was on goal.
ULM goalkeeper Brooke Scroggins had seven saves while Louisiana goalkeeper Cosette Morché had six saves.
"I thought our girls played really hard," Wieland said. "We had a lot of opportunities and hats off to ULM. They have been playing teams really hard this year and they have been successful. They defend very well. This was no easy task."
Louisiana will face Appalachian State on Friday, Oct. 21 in a 6 p.m. match in Boone, N.C.
USA CLOSES OUT HOME SCHEDULE WITH WIN OVER COASTAL CAROLINA
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama soccer team scored 102 seconds in the match and went on to defeat Sun Belt Conference-leading Coastal Carolina 4-1 Sunday afternoon at The Cage.
The Jaguars move to 11-4-1 overall and 6-2 in the Sun Belt, one point behind the Chanticleers, who drop to 9-5-2 and 6-2-1.
Prior to the contest, South Alabama held a ceremony for its four seniors: Monique Autmon (Ocean Springs, Miss.), Emily Farrell (Burnley, England), Sarah Hay (Waxahatchie, Texas) and Nikki Shirtcliffe (Burnley, England).
"I thought the game was excellent and the girls really stepped up," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "Sometimes we've been a little lethargic on Sundays, but today the energy levels were excellent and it showed early in the game. They really executed the game plan really well and defended well. We never looked like conceding a goal and put the ball on target. All in all, it was an excellent performance against a very good Coastal Carolina team."
Junior Rio Hardy (Workington, England) recorded a goal and an assist – scoring the match winner – and was one of four different Jags to hit the back of the net.
"I think we just showed up and everything fell on a good day," Winkworth said. "That result has been coming for a few weeks now. We've been unfortunate with some other results; we've played as well but just not won games. Today, lady luck was with us; the second one that goes in off the post, was coming out two weeks ago."
The first goal of the contest came at the 1:42 mark from junior Steffi Hardy (Workington, England) off a corner kick, and twin sister Rio deflected home a cross from junior Chardé Hannah (Tupelo, Miss.) at 30:33 to double the lead.
"It was senior day and the girls wanted to make sure that the girls that have worked so hard for us over the last four years went out on a high," Winkworth stated. "They really honored them with a strong performance today.
"It looked like they were going to sit back and defend, because they only needed a draw today. Scoring early really changed that for them. It opened the game up a little bit and allowed us to get on the scoresheet a couple of times."
In the second half, USA scored less than two minutes apart to put the game away. Junior Danielle Henley (Hattiesburg, Miss.) put back a rebound from Rio Hardy at 68:39, then freshman Kory Dixon (Roanoke, Texas) scored her first career goal 89 seconds later off a cross from sophomore Jemma Purfield (Cottingham, England).
South Alabama outshot Coastal Carolina 28-10 on the contest – 14-4 in the first half alone – and put 13 of those 28 attempts on net.
The Chanticleers scored on a penalty kick with 41.6 seconds left in the contest to avoid the shutout.
Freshman Justice Stanford (The Colony, Texas) played 76:26 in net for the Jags and made three saves while not allowing a goal. Hay played 13:34 and made one stop. Coastal Carolina's Austin Becca went the distance and made nine saves.
South Alabama completes the regular season on the road next weekend, starting Friday at 6 p.m. against Georgia State.
Mountaineers Outlast Eagles, 3-2
STATESBORO, Ga. — Appalachian State University women’s soccer came out of the gates on fire, but had to survive a second-half push from Georgia Southern to get the 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field.
“I’m very proud of the girls for getting the result on the road today,” head coach Sarah Strickland said. “Georgia Southern is a very good team and the parity of the Sun Belt has incredible this year so any team can win on any given day. It was a huge day for Jenn Bass as she scored the game winner after an amazing journey in our program.”
Strickland continued, “Every one of our girls has a story and they are all unique but for Jenn to overcome three ACL tears and another recent knee injury but persevere like she has is inspiring. Sharon Osterbind truly impacted the game today with an assist and a goal off the bench. Honestly the first half was incredible to watch and I’m so proud of the performance by so many of them. We look forward to this week and preparing for our final conference weekend at home.”
The Mountaineers (7-7-2, 2-4-2 Sun Belt) forced the issue offensively early, putting the Eagles (5-9-1, 2-6 Sun Belt) on their heels early. In the first half, App State outshot Georgia Southern 8-1, having a 6-1 advantage in corners as well.
Senior Jane Cline gave Appalachian the early lead, when she took a rocket forward pass from Sharon Osterbind and turned to fire a low-roller passed the Eagle goalkeeper in the 25th minute.
Just three minutes later, Osterbind was on the receiving end of a dime from a Jackie Nieradka corner that she headed in.
Coming out of halftime, Appalachian had to withstand an rejuvenated Eagle team that had five shots in the second half.
Despite the high-energy, the Mountaineers were able to put the game out of reach with the eventual game-winner from senior Jenn Bass who took a cross from redshirt sophomore Erin Settle and lasered it to the upper-left corner.
Georgia Southern would find the back of the net as they refused to go away quietly with all Sun Belt teams battling hard to be a part of the top 8 teams that qualify for the tournament.
Rachel Hoekstra got a one-on-one opportunity in the 67th minute and was able to drive one home high, while Sarah Price made a move on the outside and was able to find the upright corner of the net, just out of reach of Appalachian’s junior goalkeeper Sam Steyl.
Steyl played the entire 90 for App State and made three saves on the day.