DAVIDSON, N.C. — With her game-winning goal in the 108th minute of the Southern Conference finals to send the Davidson women’s soccer team to their first NCAA Tournament bid, junior
Amanda Flink (Richardson, Texas) was one of 27 players to earn Primetime Performers of the Week from CollegeSocccer360.com as announced today.
Flink and her Wildcat teammates also helped push Davidson (12-9-1) into the top-10 of the NSCAA Southeast Regional Poll for the first time this year, ranking ninth in the latest poll this week. Davidson was last ranked in the top-10 at the beginning of last season when it opened the year 2-0-1 and reached ninth in the poll.
Helping the Wildcats crack the top-10 this week is a current eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1). Their win in the finals last Sunday gave the program its fourth SoCon Tournament Title.
Flink capped off an outstanding weekend at the league tournament when she sent the ‘Cats home in winning fashion with her sudden-victory goal on a header off a corner kick in double-overtime on Sunday against College of Charleston.
With time ticking down in the second overtime, the Wildcats worked the ball down the far side of the field where junior
Callan Elswick (Locust Grove, Va.) then knocked a ball off her Cougar defender to earn a corner kick.
Allison Drutchas (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) lined up and sent a great ball into the six-yard box, where three ‘Cats raised up with Flink rising above her teammates and heading the pass, which grazed off the crossbar, then was tipped by the Cougars’ goalkeeper to the near post and just crossed the goalline before a Cougar defender could clear the ball out for the game-winner.
The game-winner was the junior defenders’ third score of the season, but it was her defense that shined the most over the weekend as Flink seemed to be nearly everywhere on the defensive side for Davidson. She helped lead a stout effort from the Wildcat defense that played shutout ball for 198 minutes over the weekend. Flink’s strong efforts earned her the SoCon Tournament MVP, the first ‘Cat to garner the honor since Katherine Cornelius was MVP of the 1996 squad.
For her career, Flink has tallied nine goals, three each in each of her first three seasons, for 21 points. She has been a staple in the Wildcat backfield since her freshman season, having started all but four of 64 games played.
Davidson gears up for its first trip to the NCAA Tournament by heading to Columbia, S.C., to play host, and No. 2 seed, South Carolina on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.