Bulldogs Force Lady Bucs To Walk Plank, Win Big South Opener
September 20, 2008 | Women's Soccer
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Senior Angie Harvey scored what turned out to be the golden goal in the Gardner-Webb women's soccer team's first-ever Big South Conference opener as head coach Kevin Mounce's team won a 2-0 decision over Charleston Southern Saturday morning.
The Bulldogs improve to 3-6 on the year and 1-0 in the Big South
Conference. The Lady Bucs fall to 3-4 on the year and 0-1 in
conference competition.
"We didn't play the best the first half we could," Mounce said. "I
think our nerves hit us a little bit. Charleston Southern is a
physical team and the second half was much better for us."
After a scoreless first half, GWU came out attacking the home
squad, registering three shots in the first eight minutes of play,
including one on frame by rookie Megan Reimer. The Bulldogs
controlled the possession early on, allowing CSU to manage two
shots on goal that Sarah Wyszynski was easily able to gobble
up.
Then, in the 61st minute, Harvey fired a shot toward the
corner of the goal that ricocheted off the Lady Bucs keeper, Jena
Uvalle, and hit the right post before trickling into the back of
the net for a 1-0 lead.
CSU tried to come right back as Sarah Catenacci fired a shot that
was just wide of the goal 38 seconds after Harvey's goal.
At the 80:41 mark, Harvey dribbled past a couple of defenders
before finding Paige Reagan in the box, who promptly gave the
Bulldogs an insurance goal.
From there, GWU continued to maintain control in the final 9:19 of
the match as the defense clamped down, allowing just one shot in
the closing minutes. Emma Mattsson booted a ball wide of the goal
with 1:07 to play. After that, GWU was not seriously
challenged.
In the first half, CSU wanted to get things going in a hurry,
firing the first shot of the contest 1:10 in, but it was wide of
the frame. In fact, the Lady Bucs managed to get the first six
shots of the match while Reagan had GWU's only shot in the first
stanza, which came with just 27 seconds to play before
intermission.
Wyszynski stepped up to the challenge for Mounce's team. After not
playing the first five matches of the season, Wyszynski has stuffed
the opposition in two of the four matches she has played, which has
helped her move to within three shutouts of first place in the
career record book at GWU for shutouts. In four matches, Wyszynski
has given up just three goals while the Bulldogs are 2-2 with her
between the pipes.
For the match, CSU had 12 shots to just six for GWU. The Lady Bucs
also managed five corners to just two for the Bulldogs. All seven
of the corners by the two teams came in the first period. Wyszynski
tallied four saves while Uvalle had one in the loss.
"Our line-up adjustments to start the second half helped us out,"
Mounce said. "All of our forwards played well and our defense
played good. We did some things that we needed to do in order to
win the match.
"It was a conference match and we knew it would be tough. Hopefully
the win will give us some confidence that we need right now."
The Bulldogs return to action Monday afternoon when they step out
of conference to face in-state rival Campbell in Buies Creek, N.C.
The match is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
| Box Score |
