Friday, September 25
Purfield's Goal Helps USA Blank ULM
MONROE, La. – A late first-half goal from University of South Alabama sophomore Jemma Purfield (Cottingham, England) was all the Jaguars needed in a 1-0 victory over Louisiana-Monroe Friday afternoon at the ULM Soccer Complex.
The Jags extend their win and shutout streak to seven, and go to 9-2-1 overall and 4-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Warhawks have their four-match win streak snapped and fall to 6-5-1 and 3-1.
"First of all, I thought Louisiana-Monroe defended very well and worked extremely hard," USA head coach Graham Winkworth said. "How they played – they sat every player inside their own half – is a compliment to the way we're playing. We had to find ways to break them down; fortunately, we were working all week on this and managed to create more chances from open play. We hit the woodwork three times and scored a goal from open play, getting the ball out wide and putting crosses in. Despite their congestion in one half of the pitch, we were a lot more creative than we've been, particularly in the second half."
Friday marked South Alabama's sixth 1-0 win in its last seven outings. USA also improves to 14-0 all-time against ULM.
The goal was Purfield's second in the last three games – and fourth overall, second on the team – and both were game winners. It came at 41:23 off a pass from freshman Alexis Jordan (Mesquite, Texas).
"Jemma did a great job," Winkworth said. "We've been trying to get players to attack crosses, and when we've got one fullback getting on the end of another fullback's cross, it means we're being allowed to attack with numbers. It's great to have one fullback cross to the other one. I'm just glad she was able to continue her streak of playing well."
South Alabama dominated play, recording 19 shots and putting 12 of those on net. Three more hit the woodwork as juniors Chardé Hannah (Tupelo, Miss.) and Ashlynn Jones (Pickerington, Ohio) did it twice and once, respectively.
Three of Jones' four shots were on frame, while Purfield had three of her team-high shots hit the target.
"We've worked on our combination play and our movement," Winkworth noted. "We tweaked a few things positionally and we were maintaining possession and we were patient. The chances we created were good; that's why 12 of 19 were on target and three more hitting the bar. That means only four of them went past the end line.
"We're obviously looking much more dangerous in the final third of the field. It's just a workrate thing; we've got to be prepared to move for one another, and some of our combination play in the final third was much better, particularly in the early stages of the second half."
Defensively, the Jags held the Warhawks to just five shots and three on target. Freshman Justice Stanford (The Colony, Texas), who lowered her season goals against average to 0.12 in eight starts, recorded her seventh clean sheet of the year.
"When teams sit back so deep, our backline really doesn't have much to do," Winkworth noted. "Yes, it's great we're keeping shutouts, but we're not going to score six goals on everybody when everyone is playing so deep. The great thing is, we're still managing to find a way and we're still creating lots of good chances. Somebody will get hurt badly if teams continue to do that against us, but because so many players are behind the ball for the opposition, they don't have any numbers attacking. As great as it is to keep clean sheets, and we pride ourselves on them, we've not been very busy defensively and most of the work that our defenders are doing right now, is actually attacking."
The Jaguars have Sunday off but will start a four-match homestand on Oct. 7 against in-state rival Troy.
Padgett Scores Twice to Lead @AStateSoccer to Victory
JONESBORO, Ark. (9/30/16) – Kat Padgett notched the first multi goal match of her career as she helped lead the Arkansas State women’s soccer team to a 3-0 victory over Appalachian State Friday afternoon at the A-State Soccer Park.
The A-State (3-5-3, 1-3-1 SBC) senior scored in the ninth minute after receiving the ball near the midfield stripe on a pass from Bailey Reed. The pass caught the Mountaineers (5-6-2, 0-3-2) defense off guard and Padgett was able to out run them and score easily for her first goal of the season.
She scored again in the 22nd minute on a free kick from on a free kick from 25 yards out on a perfectly placed ball into the top left corner.
The Red Wolves all but sealed the game in the 34th minute when Taylor Schneider collected a deflected off a header by Jacqueline Greer and placed it into the net. The sequence was setup on a corner kick by Tayler Carter that was timed by Greer who nearly scored on off the header but had her attempt deflected to Schneider who cleaned up the attempt for the goal.
“That range is really Kat’s zone so I knew that had a really good chance and being something positive for us,” A-State head coach Brian Dooley said. “Then to follow it up with the corner kick goal with the perfect timing on the header by Jacqueline Greer and the other players being in the right position at the right times really helped us convert that.”
The offensive output was one of the best of the season for the Red Wolves, who had five of their eight shots land on goal. Bailey Reed earned an assist on the day’s first goal after pushing the ball on to Padgett, while Greer and Carter each earned assists on the day’s third goal.
“The whole them this week was to get into an offensive attacking mentality,” Dooley said. “The biggest thing is being efficient with your opportunities and we’ve been preaching all along to not waste shot because 70 percent of goals are scored within 10 yards and we converted some really good chances.”
Kelsey Ponder, who entered the match ranked fourth in the nation in goals, made 11 saves on the afternoon and stood up to a flurry of activity in front of the net in the second half from the Mountaineers.
The shutout was the second of the season for Ponder.
“Our defense in the second half wasn’t necessarily pretty all of the time, but it got the job done,” Dooley said. “We gave away some opportunities at times, but Kelsey was able to pick us with some big saves.”
The Red Wolves will take to the road for an in-state matchup with Little Rock Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. You can follow along with the live stats on AStateStats.com.
PANTHERS POST EIGHTH SHUTOUT
ATLANTA- The Georgia State women’s soccer team fought to a 0-0 double overtime tie Friday night, the team’s second double overtime draw in as many games.
The Panthers are now 4-3-5 overall (1-1-2 Sun Belt) while the Trojans are 5-5-3 overall (1-1-2 Sun Belt).
The game started off focused on defensive strategy, with only 11 shots taken by both teams. Sophomore Caitlin Ray had the first shot of the match, but a Trojan save kept the score even.
The match went into the half tied at 0-0, and the Panthers entered the second half looking to score. Junior Taina Anglade came in clutch with a defensive save to keep Troy off the board. Senior Alexis Thomas was able to create chances to score, but the Trojan defense applied pressure and kept the match scoreless at the 90-minute mark.
Georgia State had the lone shot in the first overtime, but a Trojan block kept Thomas from netting the ball. The second overtime period was held shotless, with both teams playing defense.
“I thought we had a very good first half and played the way we wanted too,” said head coach Ed Joyce. “Troy changed some things coming into the second half and caused us to adjust as well. I’m proud of the girls for working hard and making the changes they needed to. They deserved the shutout and now we’re looking forward to the next few weeks.”
The team will have Sunday off before hosting rival Georgia Southern on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.
Famili Lifts Coastal Past Georgia Southern, 1-0
Statesboro, Ga. - An early first-half goal from junior forward Daniella Famili powered the Chanticleers past Georgia Southern, 1-0, Friday evening in Statesboro, Ga.
With the win, Coastal Carolina improved to 6-4-1, 3-1 in the Sun Belt, while Georgia Southern fell to a 4-7-1 (1-4).
Amber Adams led the team by recording three shots while Famili finished the game with two total shots, including the game-winner. Senior Becca Austin returned to the pitch after missing two games due to injury and recorded her third clean sheet.
Each team tallied 12 total shots while Coastal held a 5-2 shots on goal advantage and a 5-4 edge in corner kicks.
The Chants controlled the pace of the play in the opening half, despite Georgia Southern putting seven shots on frame to Coastal's six.
Famili's tally came in the 9th minute of the match with a shot from 15 yards out. She lifted the ball over her defenders to put the Chants in front.
Georgia Southern generated offensive opportunities in the final third of the pitch but could not convert as CCU's defense held firm.
Coastal had a tremendous scoring opportunity just three minutes into the second half. Ellie Taylor drove the ball down the line to send a cross into the box to find Ambria Shutts on the back post but a miss-hit from Shutts sent the ball high and over the cross bar.
A final attempt by Georgia Southern with under a minute remaining came from Cydnee Martin. She was looking for net from a distance but it was blocked by the Chanticleer defense.
Baylee Price nearly netted another one for Coastal in the waning seconds but it did not count because of a foul called before the shot.
NEXT UP
The Chanticleers travel to Texas State Sunday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed live on Texas State Bobcats All-Access.
Ramsey Nets First Career Goal to give Bobcats OT Victory
LAFAYETTE, La. – Junior Brooke Ramsey found the perfect time to score her first collegiate goal when she found the upper right corner of the net just over six minutes into the first overtime period as the Texas State women's soccer team came from behind to defeat UL Lafayette 2-1 Friday night at the Ragin' Cajun Soccer Facility.
The Bobcats are now 6-5-2 on the season and 3-1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference while the Ragin' Cajuns drop to 6-6-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the conference. With 10 points, Texas State is now alone in second place in the league standings.
It was the sixth overtime game for the Bobcats this season, tying the program record that was set in the inaugural season in 1999 and matched in 2008 and 2013.
ULL got on the scoreboard first early in the 19th minute. Natalie Newman knocked in a loose ball in the 6-yard box after a long throw-in.
The Bobcats peppered the net in the second half with 17 shots and 10 being on goal. Jordie Kondikoff took four shouts and placed three on goal in her first 12 minutes on the field. Her first was off a corner kick that was knocked off the goal line by a Ragin' Cajun defender. Her other two attempts that went on goal saw the ULL goalkeeper make two diving saves.
Rachel Grout finally came through with the game-tying goal early in the 88th minute. She sent in a corner kick that curled into the net past the defenders and goalkeeper. The goal was her third of the season to tie her for the team lead with Kassi Hormuth and Clarissa Leon.
With less than four minutes left in the overtime period, Ramsey juked out two defenders to get an open look at goal. Her shot sailed over the outreached hands of the Ragin' Cajun goalkeeper to send the Bobcats home with the victory. Lauren Prater was credited with an assist on the play, her third of the year.
Grout led all players with five shots and four being on goal. Kondikoff came off the bench in the second half to finish with four shots and three attempts being placed on the net. In goal, Heather Martin set a new career-high with eight saves.
Texas State returns home to Bobcat Soccer Complex on Sunday for a 7 p.m. match against SBC newcomer Coastal Carolina.