.png&width=48&height=48&type=webp)
Friday, November 6
Greensboro, N.C.
7:30 p.m.
Davidson College
1
at
0
UNC Greensboro (Semifinals)
Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com
Conner and ‘Cats Defense Lead W. Soccer To SoCon Finals, 1-0
11/6/2009 11:46:22 PM | Women's Soccer
Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Senior Lauren Conner (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) netted her seventh career game-winner with an early first-half goal, and the Davidson defense took care of the rest, tallying their seventh shutout with a 1-0 victory over No. 1-seeded UNC Greensboro in the semifinals to advance to the Women's Soccer Southern Conference Championship game on Sunday.
Davidson continues its hot play, pushing its unbeaten streak to seven in improving to 11-9-1 overall. The 'Cats reached the finals for the first time since 2004, when they also defeated UNC Greensboro that year in semis.
The Wildcats will face College of Charleston, which reached the finals by defeating Samford in a shootout, on Sunday at 1 p.m. This will be first time both teams have meet in the league tournament.
“Really proud of the ladies performance tonight,” said head coach Greg Ashton. “I thought the first half was outstanding and probaly one of the best halves we've played all year. The second half we showed some tremendous defending against a very talented UNC Greensboro team.”
Davidson came out with an aggressive approach, controlling possession for the first 10 minutes, though it only got off two shots in that stretch.
But, Davidson did not let up and it paid off in the 18th minute thanks to a great hustle play from senior All-SoCon First Teamer Kyri Bye-Nagel (Hanau, Germany). Senior Blakely Low (San Antonio, Texas) fired off a shot to the near post in the box, that was saved by a diving Alex Perry of UNC Greensboro in goal, but the ball trickled to the left near the goalline. From there, Bye-Nagel raced in before it went out of bounds and sent a cross into the six-yard box, where fellow classmate Conner came over and headed in the goal for 1-0 advantage.
“The three seniors who were involved in the goal– Blakely's shot, Kyri's cross and Lauren's goal– sum up how important this senior class has meant to this program, and I'm?thrilled they have one more conference game to play together, and a chance to compete for a Southern Conference Title,” said Ashton.
After halftime, UNC Greensboro came out putting the Wildcats on their heels on defense, but Davidson never backed down, halting every Spartan attack. The Spartans got off 14 shots in the half and 19 for the game, but never once could they penetrate a stout Wildcat defensive effort.
The Spartans' Cat Barnekow nearly tied the game with 23 minutes remaining in the second half when her shot from the top corner of the 18-yard box deflected off the crossbar and bounced away.
Jessie Baxa (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) was excellent in goal, closing with seven saves in registering her third shutout in goal and fifth win between the pipes.
Perry, who was filling in for UNCG's regular goalkeeper Kelsey Kearney, finished with two saves.
Davidson and College of Charleston will square-off on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. for a chance at the SoCon Tournament Title. The Wildcats have won three of them, with their last one coming in 1996.
Scoring Summary
18:34 DAV Lauren Conner (2) (Kyri Bye-Nagel)
Women's Soccer vs Duquesne - Match Rewind
Monday, January 30
2022 Women's Soccer Preview
Wednesday, August 17
2022 Women's Soccer Preseason
Friday, August 05
Getting to Know: Women's Soccer
Monday, October 05