Bulldogs Unleash Late Fury On Spartans, Win 2-0
October 13, 2007 | Women's Soccer
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Although the Gardner-Webb women's soccer team dominated much of the match Saturday afternoon, the squad needed a goal in the 78th minute by Sarah Keyser to earn a hard fought 2-0 victory over USC Upstate in a critical Atlantic Sun Conference match.
With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 5-8 overall and 3-3 in A-Sun action. The Spartans fall to 3-9 on the season and 1-5 in conference competition.
Keyser's shot from the far corner of the pitch, under the scoreboard, curled to the far post and hit the back of the net for a 1-0 lead 77:43 into the contest. Lindsey Gladhill won the corner for the Bulldogs just seconds prior to Keyser's score.
After fighting off chances by the Spartans over the next few
minutes as the team continued to push forward in an attempt to try
and tie the score, the Bulldogs closed the deal as Angie Harvey
played a ball from the right side of the field across the box.
Keyser touched it and the ball ended up at the feet of Gladhill,
who promptly drilled home her team-leading sixth goal of the season
for a 2-0 advantage. Both Keyser and Harvey were credited with an
assist on the play.
Earlier in the half, the Spartans had their best opportunity of the day to get on the board in the 61st minute as a visiting defender played the ball through toward the left side of the box. Charlise Cunningham took a dribble and launched a shot that was just wide of the frame.
In the 17th minute, USC-Upstate tried to push forward, but Dara Goldstein stifled the Spartans at the midfield stripe, winning the ball and launching a pass near the box. Gladhill, sprinting from 30 yards away, ran past two defenders and fired a right-footed shot toward the left side of the goal. She missed by just inches as her shot ricocheted off the left post back onto the playing field.
A few minutes later, the Bulldogs had another good opportunity for a score as freshman Melissa Battista rocketed a shot from the left side of the box through multiple defenders, but Samantha Spradley was up for the challenge, stuffing the attempt to keep the match scoreless.
GWU continually applied constant pressure in the Spartans' half of the field. In the first stanza, the visitors played roughly three minutes in GWU's defensive third of the pitch.
The Bulldogs amassed nine shots in the opening period, including six of which were on goal. Head coach Kevin Mounce's team did not allow a shot in the first half. GWU tallied three corners to zero for the Spartans. By the intermission, Spradley had accounted for six saves.
For the contest, Spradley tallied a match-high 10 saves. GWU keeper Ashley Scott notched one save while recording the first shutout of her collegiate career.
The Bulldogs out-shot the visitors by a 22-2 margin and had six
corners while limiting USC-Upstate to just one.
The Bulldogs return to action on Thursday evening as they play host
to the Ospreys of North Florida. The match is slated to start at 7
p.m., at Varsity Field.
| Combined Stats |
| Box Score |
