Looking Back On The 2007 Season
November 09, 2007 | Women's Soccer
With all but one player returning from the 2006 squad that made a run to the Atlantic Sun Conference semifinals, the 2007 season seemed to be the year that the Gardner-Webb women's soccer team finally put all the pieces together and made a run for the coveted A-Sun crown and earned the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.
Despite all the upside heading into the season, nagging injuries plagued some of the members of the team at the start of preseason and more injuries throughout the course of the year riddled the squad. At times, head coach Kevin Mounce's team had nearly as many every day starters on the sideline as he did on the field.
However, the GWU battled through the injuries and through arguably the toughest schedule the team has ever faced to garner a 7-11-0 overall record. Although the overall record doesn't show it, the Bulldogs played sound in the league, finishing at a respectable 5-6 in their last year in the A-Sun Conference.
For the first time in two seasons, the team placed two players on the all-conference team, including junior Angie Harvey's ascent to the first team after not making the first or second team a year ago. Harvey's tenacious defense, combined with her constant movement, helped get GWU on track throughout the season. Never giving up on a ball or play, Harvey put her in position to intercept a pass or create chances for her teammates.
Senior Lindsey Gladhill garnered second-team accolades for the second consecutive season after notching a team-best nine goals for a team-high 18 points. Two of her scores were of the game-winning variety, including the golden goal in the 1-0 win over Lipscomb. Her goal in that contest came against first-team all-conference selection Katie Shelton.
Heading into the last week of the regular season, the squad still had a chance to make the A-Sun Tournament, but two things had to happen in order to do so. The first item on the list was to defeat A-Sun rival Campbell in a Halloween night affair in Boiling Springs. The second thing the Bulldogs needed was for Florida Gulf Coast to defeat Stetson, thereby leaving the teams tied for sixth place in the league, but thrusting GWU into the tournament by virtue of the 2-1 win over the Hatters on Oct. 4 in DeLand, Fla.
Although the Bulldogs had countless opportunities to take the lead over the Fighting Camels early on in the match, Mounce's team was unable to capitalize on the solid play. In the second half, the contest became more physical as 35 total fouls were called in addition to two yellow cards. With a streak of four consecutive postseason berths on the line, GWU began to push nearly everyone forward in the closing minutes of play.
After a Bulldogs' corner kick that wasn't cleared, senior Tiffany Greene felt pressure at the top of the box on the right side of the pitch. From there, she made a brilliant pass across the box to sophomore Sarah Keyser who planted her left leg and swung her powerful right foot, connecting with the ball and sending it scorching past the defense and the Campbell keeper to the lower right of the goal with just 67 seconds remaining in regulation, allowing the team to capture a 1-0 victory.
With the win, all GWU could do was wait. The Bulldogs anxiously awaited news from Stetson three days later, hoping that FGCU could pull out a victory. However, the Hatters derailed GWU's bid for a spot in the A-Sun Tournament with a 3-2 overtime win over FGCU.
The season began auspiciously enough for the Bulldogs, dropping a 5-1 decision to UNC-Wilmington and then losing the second match of the year by a 4-1 count to Francis Marion, a team that GWU beat by a 3-0 score in 2006. The goal against UNCW came from Bailey Stevens, who made the transition from defender to forward prior to the start of the season. Gladhill tallied the lone score at FMU.
In the home opener, the Bulldogs responded in a big way in front of the home fans. Hosting the GWU Classic, Mounce's squad trounced the Big South's 2006 NCAA Championships representative, UNC-Asheville, by a 5-1 margin.
After the offense sputtered in the first two matches of the year, it got going in a big way against the Bulldogs. Gladhill posted her second and third goals of the year while Keyser netted her first of the season, which turned out to be the game-winner. Stevens added her second score while Greene added her first of the year.
GWU protected its home field again in the final match of the classic, besting Nicholls State 2-1. The Bulldogs had complete control of the entire contest, virtually playing all 90 minutes in Nicholls State's defensive half of the field.
From there, GWU took on two of its most difficult matches on the year. The squad made the cross-country journey to Greene's home state of California to face UC-Irvine and UC-Riverside.
Against UCI, the Bulldogs were up against a formidable opponent and fell by a 6-0 score. GWU played evenly throughout and the statistical categories were very similar – all except for the outcome. Two days later, GWU switched things up, going with rookie Ashley Scott in goal for her first career start between the pipes. She responded by posting a career-high eight saves, but the Red and Black lost a hard fought match by a 1-0 score.
Upon returning to North Carolina, the Bulldogs dropped a non-conference home match to Western Carolina in their last non-conference match of the season.
GWU was fortunate enough to open its a-Sun slate at home and knocked off Lipscomb 1-0. The Bulldogs controlled virtually every aspect of the match, recording a season-high 22 shots, 10 of which were on goal. Mounce's team also piled up a season-best 15 corner kicks while limiting the Lady Bisons to just one shot for the match.
After the Bulldogs dropped a 1-0 match to Belmont, the team traveled to Florida to take on Stetson and FGCU. Senior Brittany Woods opened the scoring with a shot from the right side over the keeper in the 24th minute. Three minutes later, Harvey's direct kick turned out to be the game-winner, giving the Bulldogs a hard fought and much needed victory.
GWU returned to Boiling Springs after falling to FGCU and ETSU to take on A-Sun newcomer USC-Upstate. Sarah Keyser netted the game-winning goal and assisted on the second goal of the 2-0 shutout, evening its conference record at 3-3.
The Bulldogs fell by a 2-1 margin to UNF despite having plenty
of opportunities to score goals. The next match came against
Jacksonville, and it fell on Senior Day. The day turned out to be
pretty special for GWU as fourth-year player Elicia Morris, who
missed much of the season due to injury, headed home the
game-winning goal in the 74th minute of play.
Mounce's team was unable to capture a victory in its next two
matches, falling to Mercer and Kennesaw State prior to Keyser's
heroics against Campbell.
Although the 2007 season ended with the disappointment of not reaching the A-Sun Tournament, the Bulldogs were able to win their last match and hopefully keep the momentum going for 2008. However, the Campbell match was the last of the careers for seven seniors. Ashley Gesuale, Gladhill, Greene, Christina Lacy, Morris, Lauren Sochacki and Woods will all graduate prior to the 2008 season.
Gladhill ended her career as the seventh-best scorer in school history while also ranking seventh in career goals. Gladhill and Woods are tied for eighth on the career assist list. Each of the others, although it doesn't show up in the box score all the time, played prominent roles in GWU's success over the years.
The senior class helped move GWU to a higher level of play than
when it arrived, and the hope is the tradition continues. With
Harvey leading a very talented senior class in 2008, to go along
with Sarah Wyszynski's 10 career shutouts, the Bulldogs appear to
be ready for the challenge a new season brings.
