Keyser's Goal Carries Bulldogs Past Camels
October 31, 2007 | Women's Soccer
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – In a must-win match for the Gardner-Webb women's soccer team, head coach Kevin Mounce's squad waited until the 89th minute to put the golden goal on the board. The goal by sophomore Sarah Keyser gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 win over rival Campbell.
GWU improves to 7-11-0 on the year and 5-6 in A-Sun play.
Seconds after a corner kick by senior Brittany Woods was played into the box and booted away by a Campbell defender, senior Tiffany Greene fought for the ball at the top right of the box. She found Keyser crashing in from the left side of the pitch and chipped it her way. From there, Keyser planted her left foot hard in the ground, and touched the powerful right foot to the ball, sending a blazing shot across the box and to the lower right of the goal, securing the Bulldogs' first lead in a match since a 1-0 victory over Jacksonville on Senior Day on Oct. 20. The ball reached the back of the net at the 88:53 mark.
After the Camels got the ball on the kick-off seconds after the score, GWU regained possession and after a few seconds in control, booted the ball to the right corner of the pitch. It slowly trickled out of bounds and time expired before Campbell was able to make a push toward its goal, ending the contest.
In a contest that saw 35 fouls called and two yellow cards issued, neither team had solid opportunities to score until the second half of play. In the 80th minute, Greene fired a shot from the top right of the box to the left side of the goal. However, Annamari DiTommaso, the Campbell keeper, dove to her right and was able to get her right mitt on the ball, thwarting it from crossing the end-line.
Under two minutes later, Sarah Wyszynski had a goal keep and found Woods near the midfield stripe. Woods then played it to a slashing Lindsey Gladhill on the right side of the pitch. With a defender coming hard from a diagonal angle behind her and the keeper rushing out to stop the shot, the trio collided prior to the Gladhill getting enough time to put her boot to the ball, and it trickled out of bounds just inches away from the right post.
In the first half, the Bulldogs had two corner kicks in the opening 10 minutes, but neither time the team was able to record a shot on goal during the possession.
For the match, the Bulldogs amassed 14 shots, but only six were on goal. Campbell tallied eight shots, five of which were on frame. The Bulldogs notched nine corner kicks to four for the Camels. Wyszynski and DiTommaso each posted five saves for the match.
GWU did its part with the victory, but the Bulldogs still need Florida Gulf Coast to down Stetson on Saturday in order to keep its season alive. If FGCU wins, the Bulldogs will earn the No. 6 seed in the A-Sun tournament. If Stetson wins, GWU's 2007 season is over.
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