Elon 2, Furman 1

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Elon’s Mel Insley converted a penalty kick in the 59th minute and the Phoenix weathered late pressure from Furman to down the Paladins, 2-1, in Southern Conference women’s soccer action on Sunday at Stone Stadium.

The loss halted Furman’s 11-match unbeaten run at home and dropped the Paladins to 9-3-2 overall and 2-2-2 in SoCon play.  Elon upped its record to 4-6-5 overall and 2-1-3 in the league.

The Phoenix claimed the early lead in the 25th minute on Shannon Foley’s first goal of the season.  Olivia Mackey curled a corner kick toward the top of the six-yard box and Foley out-jumped her defender to head a shot into the center of the net at 24:09.

Furman answered just before the half hour mark on freshman Stephanie DeVita’s league-leading 15th goal of the season.  The Simpsonville, S.C., product received a pass in the center of the field and dribbled by three defenders before slotting a shot to the left-hand corner past the Elon goalkeeper at 29:10.

At the 58:28 mark, a Furman defender was whistled for a foul in the box and the Phoenix was awarded a penalty kick.  Insley stepped to the spot and lined a shot to the lower right-hand corner past a diving Rose Hull for her first tally of 2012.

Furman turned up the heat on the Phoenix over the last half hour by controlling a large majority of the possession and holding Elon without a shot, but the Paladins managed just one shot on goal and were unable to threaten Elon goalkeeper Kate Murphy.

Despite a 16-8 edge in shots, Furman held just a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal.  Murphy stopped five shots for the Phoenix, while Hull turned away three shots in goal for the Paladins.

Furman will continue its five-match homestand on Friday when it hosts Western Carolina at Stone Stadium at 8 p.m. Elon’s next match is Friday at 7 p.m., when the Phoenix hosts Georgia Southern at Rudd Field.

The Citadel 4, Georgia Southern 2

STATESBORO, Ga. – Mariana Garcia scored two goals to record her ninth and 10th goals of the season as The Citadel women's soccer team downed Georgia Southern 4-2 in a hard-fought Southern Conference battle on Sunday.

The win improved the Bulldogs' record to 4-8-1 overall and 2-3-1 in the SoCon.

Georgia Southern (6-4-4, 2-3-1) struck first in the game on a penalty shot goal by Courtney Collins in the 23rd minute to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead early in the match. The senior was clipped by a sliding tackle in the box to earn the kick and made the Bulldog keeper guess the wrong way as she delicately placed the attempt in the net.

It took 17 minutes for the Bulldogs to strike back and even the game at one goal apiece, when Garcia took a pass from Nicholle Griffith and drove a 20-yard left-footed laser into the back of the net for her team-leading ninth goal of the season and 26th of her career. The assist was Griffith's first of her career.

The Citadel opened up the score in the second half when Nicole Levermann fired a shot off of a pass from Jillian Meyer in the 67th minute to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. The goal was Levermann's 12th of her career, moving her into seventh place all-time in program history, while Meyer recorded her third career assist and first of the season.

Four minutes later, Garcia posted what would prove to be the game-winner, the 11th of her career and second of the season, on a reboundeded shot from Jannel Johnson that Garcia was able to put past Eagle goalkeeper Katie Merson.

The second goal for Garcia gave her four points on the day, moving her into sole possession of first place in Citadel history with 59 career points.

Four minutes later, Georgia Southern’s Alex Murphy brought the score to 3-2 with a miraculous goal from the top of the box. Callie O’Connor centered the ball to the top of the box and Murphy, with her back to the goal, turned in the air and lobbed a high shot that looped past the Citadel keeper into the net. It was Murphy’s third goal of the season and gave the Eagles new life with 15 minutes remaining.

Johnson would close out the Bulldogs' scoring spree in the final minutes when she dribbled a pass across midfield and fired a laser from 25 yards out to give her team a commanding 4-2 lead.

The win is the Bulldogs' fourth against Georgia Southern to improve its all-time record in the series to 4-8, which is the most against any conference foe.

With her two goals in Sunday's match, Garcia is now just two goals shy of tying the program's all-time career record of 28 set by Kelly Pesterfield in 2003.

Sarah Katchen played another gem between the posts, racking up seven saves to leave the junior with a conference-leading 73 on the season and improve her record to 4-8-1 on the year.

The Bulldogs will host their final two home conference games of the season next weekend when they take on defending SoCon champion Samford on Friday at 4 p.m. before welcoming Chattanooga on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Eagles are back on the road next weekend with a pair of games in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad. GSU faces Elon on Friday at 7 p.m. and UNCG, who the Eagles eliminated from the SoCon Tournament last year, on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Davidson 5, College of Charleston 2

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Down 2-0 early, Davidson exploded for five unanswered goals, led by Julia Singley’s career-best six points on two goals and two assists, as the Wildcats took home a 5-2 decision over visiting College of Charleston on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium in a key Southern Conference women’s soccer matchup.

Davidson evened its record on the season at 6-6-2, while moving to 4-2 in league play. The Cougars, who were picked second in the preseason league poll, fell to 3-9-1, 2-3-1 in the SoCon.

Tied 2-2, Stephanie Piperno dribbled down on the near sideline and set a cross to the far left side of the box, where Singley was wide open. The sophomore gathered in the ball and drilled home the game-winner.

Singley was not done, as she returned the favor to Piperno by feeding her classmate with a touch pass into the box. Piperno fired a shot to near post for her second goal of the year.

Kelsey Krueger capped off the big scoring afternoon for the Wildcats with a header in the box after Singley sent a nice pass into the junior.

Singley started to the comeback for Davidson in the 42nd minute, when she gathered in a loose corner kick ball and shot home her first goal of the game to make it 2-1.

Just a minute into the second half, the Wildcats earned a penalty kick with a foul inside the box. Julie Calhoun converted on the free kick to knot things up at 2-all.

CofC had the early momentum with a pair of goals off of corner kicks, including a Jade Reynolds’ header off a Sarah Cardamone corner just a minute and 23 seconds into the start of the game. College of Charleston doubled its lead in the 26^th minute when McCallie Jones scored off a corner from Kate Twohig.

The Cougars controlled possession until Singley’s strike at the 41:18 mark, but from there, it was all Davidson.

The Wildcats will hit the road again to face UNCG on Friday at 7 p.m. College of Charleston will host Chattanooga on Friday at 7 p.m.

UNCG 1, Wofford 0

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Senior Lauren Hein scored her third goal of the season in the 11th minute as the UNCG women's soccer team held on to defeat Wofford, 1-0, Sunday afternoon at Snyder Field. Freshman goalkeeper Jamie Simmons picked up her third shutout of the season.

With the victory, the Spartans improved to 7-6-1 overall and a 4-1-1 record in the SoCon. The Terriers fell to 6-6-1 with a 1-4-1 mark in the SoCon. UNCG also continued its 18-game unbeaten streak on the road in SoCon play.

UNCG quickly took the lead in the 11th minute after junior Kate Durst crossed a ball into the box that Wofford goalkeeper Kimberly Cohn tipped off the post and Hein tapped into the net. It was Hein's third goal in four games since moving to forward.

The Terriers had two chances in the first half when Chloe Brackett fired a shot on goal, but Simmons made the save in the 41st minute.  Just four minutes later, Simmons turned away Erin Stephenson just before the half to keep the game 1-0 UNCG.

In the second half, Simmons stopped another chance for Wofford's Kathryn Macklen in the 71st minute to finish with three saves. The Spartans held Wofford to just eight shots in the victory.

UNCG heads home to host Davidson on Senior Night on Friday at 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. Wofford returns to action on Friday when it hosts Appalachian State at 6 p.m. at Snyder Field.

Western Carolina 1, Chattanooga 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Western Carolina’s women’s soccer team used a late strike to take a 1-0 win over Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon at Finley Stadium in a Southern Conference match. The Mocs fell to 2-9-1 overall and 0-6-0 in league play, while the Catamounts improved to 6-7-1 on the year and 2-3-1 in SoCon action.

Western Carolina’s Markie-Lynn Studnicky scored the game-winner at the 87:09 mark of the game off a ricochet. Samantha Hodge sent a shot to the net that caromed off the right post and to a charging Studnicky for the lone goal of the game.

The Catamounts outshot Chattanooga 14-5 with an 8-2 shots on goal advantage.

The Mocs got shots from five different players with shots on goal from senior Tayler Shelby and Crystal Mackezyk. Hodge and Studnicky each recorded three shots for the Cats.

Chattanooga keeper freshman Lauren Thomas made seven grabs in the game to two for WCU’s Jennifer Lauer. Lauer recorded her second shutout of the season.

The Mocs will travel to Charleston, S.C., to take on the College of Charleston on Friday at 7 p.m. at Patriots Point then head over to The Citadel on Sunday. Western Carolina continues its four-match road swing next weekend, heading to Furman and Wofford on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Catamounts’ match at Furman on Friday is scheduled for 8 p.m. in Greenville, S.C.

Appalachian State 1, Samford 1 (2OT)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In a Southern Conference matchup that featured the top two teams in the league, Samford and Appalachian State fought to a 1-1 draw Sunday in a hotly contested duel held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

Samford’s Adrianne Mancino notched her third goal of the season at 65:59 to even the score at 1-1. Appalachian State’s first-half tally was scored by Kebrina Keys in the 38th minute, her first of the season.

Samford (7-5-2, 4-0-2 SoCon) dominated the time of possession Sunday and outshot Appalachian State (7-5-1, 4-1-1 SoCon), 27-5. The Bulldogs rattled off 11 shots in the first half, 13 attempts in the second period and a trio of shots in extra time.

Samford out-tallied the Mountaineers in corner kicks, 4-2, while Appalachian State was whistled for four more fouls than the Bulldogs, 17-13. Samford’s starting goalkeeper, Melissa Montgomery, moved her record to 5-1-2 with Sunday’s result. The Bulldogs’ native of Georgetown, Texas, finished with two key saves, while Appalachian State’s Megan Roberson registered a career-high 15 saves.

Of Samford’s 27 shot attempts, 16 were on goal.

Sophomore Brittany Hoffman paced the Bulldogs’ offensive attack with six shot attempts. Samford’s Mancino and Michelle Moll both tallied four shots apiece, while Shanika Thomas, Jordan Johnson and Joy Grove all finished with three attempts.

With Sunday’s draw, Samford will remain atop the SoCon standings with 14 total points. The Bulldogs control their own destiny with five matches remaining in the regular season. Next week, Samford will travel to Charleston, S.C., for pivotal conference contests against The Citadel and College of Charleston.

Appalachian State had its four-match winning streak snapped but extended its undefeated stretch to five consecutive outings. Samford’s undefeated streak against SoCon opponents, which dates back to Nov. 7, 2010, was extended to 20 straight matches with Sunday’s draw.

The Mountaineers currently share second place in the SoCon standings with UNCG at 13 points apiece. Davidson sits in fourth place with a total of 12 points.

Following Keys’ first-half goal Sunday, Appalachian State took a 1-0 lead into halftime. Samford outshot the Mountaineers 11-1 in the opening 45 minutes of play, but Appalachian State’s lone shot attempt of the period proved to be a goal. Keys’ score was assisted by freshman Jenni Loveless, her first of the season.

Throughout the match, Samford’s scoring barrages were incessant and often, but Appalachian State’s Roberson was able to come up with a number of outstanding saves to hold the Bulldogs at bay.

In the 66th minute of play, the Bulldogs’ Mancino was able to slice a shot from the right baseline that found its way past Roberson. On the goal, which equalized Sunday’s match at 1-1, Mancino stole the ball from a Mountaineer defender on the right flank. She then outran another defender and charged toward the baseline.

Mancino, Samford’s All-SoCon senior defender from Lancaster, Pa., was approximately two yards from the baseline when she turned and blasted a kick to the far post. Her angle on the shot was definitely not ideal, but the wind was blowing strongly in Samford’s favor and the ball caromed off the left post and into the back of the net.

Sunday’s draw marked Samford’s second tie of the 2012 season. On Sept. 27, the Bulldogs played to a 2-2 draw versus Furman. Appalachian State played its fourth overtime match in its last five outings.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 3 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin a critical two-match road trip against The Citadel Bulldogs in a SoCon showdown to be held at WLI Field in Charleston, S.C. Appalachian will be back on the road on Friday when the Mountaineers travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford at 6 p.m. (EDT).