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Sunday, November 8
Greensboro, N.C.
1:00 p.m.
Davidson College
1
vs
0 2OT
College of Charleston (Finals)
Photo by: Sideline Sports
Wildcats NCAA Bound; Flink’s Header Gives W. Soccer SoCon Title in Double-Overtime, 1-0
11/8/2009 3:53:32 PM | Women's Soccer
Gavin McFarlin -- Assistant SID
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Junior Amanda Flink (Richardson, Texas) sent the Wildcat faithful home in a frenzy after nearly 109 minutes of play with a header off a corner kick from Allison Drutchas (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) that gave the Davidson women's soccer team its fourth Southern Conference Tournament Title with a 1-0 double-overtime victory over College of Charleston in the finals on Sunday, Nov. 8.
It's the Wildcats first tournament title since 1996 as they earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The SoCon did not have an automatic bid when the Wildcats' won their three league titles back in the mid-90's.
"Extremely proud of the team's accomplishments this year," said head coach Greg Ashton. "The game today was an extremely hard-fought contest by both teams. I thought we had some good chances early on to score, but College of Charleston showed their resilience. But all the credit goes to the team as they found a way to hang in there and get a win. This a tremendous achievement for the program and Davidson College Athletics."
Riding one of the hottest streaks in program history, Davidson pushed its unbeaten streak to eight games to improve to 12-9-1 overall. In the last month, the 'Cats have gone 7-0-1 with five shutouts, including two in the SoCon Tournament.
With time ticking down in the second overtime, the Wildcats worked the ball down the far side of the field to earn a corner kick. Drutchas 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 that brought the Wildcat fans to their feet in excitement.
Flink's score was her third of the season and capped off an outstanding weekend for the junior defender. She was nearly everywhere on the defensive side for Davidson, leading a stout effort for 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.
Flink was not alone on the all-tournament team, as three other Wildcats put their names on the team. Joining Flink in the backfield was freshman Louise Timboe (Littleton, Colo.) and goalkeeper Jessie Baxa (Bloomfield, Mich.), who was credited with both shutout wins after tallying 11 combined saves. Rounding out the all-tourney picks for Davidson was senior Lauren Conner (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), who netted the game-winner (1-0) on Friday night in the semifinals against UNC Greensboro.
Davidson dominated possession the majority of the game, but Charleston did just enough on defense to keep the Wildcats out of the back of the net. The 'Cats finished with a 13-8 advantage in shots, putting five of those on goal.
Kyri Bye-Nagel (Hanau, Germany) nearly hit a goal in the 69th minute when her shot from the far right side of the box, glanced off the cross bar. Davidson also had a corner attempt in the closing seconds of regulation, but missed putting one in before the final horn sounded, sending the game into overtime.
Fellow senior Blakely Low (San Antonio, Texas) had a chance to give Davidson the win three minutes into the first overtime. She picked up the ball at midfield and raced towards the CofC goal, but here shot sailed high over the crossbar.
CofC's best chance came early as Davidson almost found itself down 1-0 two minutes into the start of the game. Morgan Benz lofted a shot on goal from 30 yards out that handcuffed Baxa who gave up a rebound. The Cougars' Hope Atkinson corralled the rebound and got a shot off, but Baxa was able to recover and keep the game scoreless as the Wildcat defense cleared out the ball.
Katie Tate made four stops between the pipes for the Cougars, who finished their season at 12-7-2.
Davidson now awaits its NCAA Tournament seed and destination, which will be determined on Monday evening, Nov. 9, at 8:00 on ESPNews.
Scoring Summary
108:27 DAV Amanda Flink (3) (Allison Drutchas)
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